Ho'okahi
by Cokie316
Summary: The title, "Ho'okahi" means 'alone' and Steve McGarrett feels very alone, even in the presence of his friends.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello friends:**_

_**I am embarrassed to say that I have been working on this fanfic since last November and still don't have it 100% completed. But it is at a point where I feel comfortable enough to begin posting. This is one of those stories where the characters took over in spots and did things that weren't in my notes, so I had to rethink what I was doing. I felt, at times, like I was just following along after them. I have learned that McGarrett can be very strong willed and Danny is one of the most stubborn men I've dealt with!**_

_**Needless to say, I don't own them or any of this nice franchise, but am thankful that they allow me to play in their sandbox from time to time.**_

_**Note 1: This takes place near the end of first season. In addition to the story I was telling, I didn't want to have to deal with a dead governor, Halawa, Wo Fat, Joe and Lori. I'm having enough trouble writing the four characters I have here!**_

_**Note 2: Since I began writing in this fandom, I have had the pleasure of working with wonderful betas that I call friends. Thanks so much to sockie1000 and Rogue Tomato for their invaluable help and many readings and reviewing of this. It has been so long since I started it, we all had forgotten what the first part looked like. :) Also, special thanks to sym64 and sherry57 for their review and input. This fandom has given me two more friends! All of you have made this small story much better with your comments, changes and ideas. And badgering. Did I mention the endless badgering? Mahalo to all of you.**_

_**And yes, I apologize, but this is a very short chapter. **_

_**~~~H50~~~**_

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 1**_

_**by Cokie**_

"OK, with a show of hands, does anyone else think this reeks of a set up?"

Danny Williams removed his hand from the Heckler and Koch at his side and raised it up into the air, the other hand running through his hair before rubbing the tension at the back of his neck. He turned to the rest of the team where Kono waved her raised hand at him in acknowledgement and Chin nodded his agreement about the set up.

His partner remained silent, watching the supposedly abandoned warehouse through binoculars from their vantage point of a tree line dividing the property from its neighbor. The late afternoon sun was slipping behind the metal roof of the concrete structure, causing brilliant sparks of light to hinder his inspection.

"I certainly wouldn't bet against a set up," Chin Ho Kelly replied, standing at ease, holding his shotgun by his side.

"Kono," McGarrett began, lowering the binoculars. "Tell me again what the caller said."

"Not much, Boss," she replied, moving to stand next to him. "Just that the proof of Makai's guilt can be found in this warehouse. It was a man's voice, and he spoke in a whisper. He hung up before we could begin a trace."

"Even with our testimony, the DA's case against Makai is iffy," Danny added. "We need to find the guns to make sure everything is nice and legal and we can put him and his friends away."

"Yeah, I know," Steve replied, looking once again through the binoculars. "But this doesn't feel right. It's too easy."

"Well, we know going in that it feels wrong, so we're on our guard," Chin added. "But, we won't know either way until we go down there."

Steve sighed and tossed the binoculars into the open window of the Camaro parked on the side of the road.

"You're right. Let's go. When we go in, Danny and I will take the left; Chin, you and Kono head right. Watch and listen for anything that seems out of place."

"Got it," Kono said, heading down the hill, followed by Chin and Danny.

"And be careful," McGarrett warned, falling in behind his team.

~~H50~~

Reaching the warehouse without incident, McGarrett once again reminded his team of their positions, this time with sign language. Danny and Kono prepared to open the tall, metal doors so that Steve could enter, followed by Chin.

The doors creaked open and the team eased inside, blinking to focus in the near-darkness of the huge room. Metal cargo containers lined the back wall of the large space, stacked one on the other. Above them, a catwalk went around the back and both side walls.

They saw and heard nothing; the only light was from dingy windows spaced around the catwalk. The air was dank and dusty and the entire building felt unused and abandoned.

Still they moved silently, looking for signs of any habitation, not willing to give away their positions just yet.

McGarrett turned to Danny and pointed to himself, then indicating he was going to move further left toward a half-walled, concrete block partition in the room. At Williams' nod of understanding, he turned and eased around the concrete.

"Clear on the right side," Chin said quietly, as he and Kono joined Danny near the doorway. "We need to check the contents of those crates.

"There's a crowbar in my trunk," Danny told them. "Unless _**someone**_ took it out to make room for more grenades." He looked around the wall and saw Steve entering another small room. "Things seem OK here, so why don't you go get it. I'll back up the Lone Ranger over here."

"Sounds good," Chin replied as he followed Kono through the doorway into the waning sunlight.

Steve stepped through the opening to the smaller room. Out of the corner of his eye, a dot of green flashed and he quickly turned his head in that direction. He heard a click and realized that he had tripped a motion sensor set up on the outer wall.

"BOMB!"

McGarrett turned and ran the few feet closer to safety, reaching for and pushing Danny toward the open doorway, all in the nanosecond it took the bomb to detonate. Behind him, the room exploded; the outer wall blew out, the inner wall burst into chunks and the concrete blocks splintered into thousands of projectiles.

It took several minutes for the debris to settle and even then, the air was thick, still swirling with particles of dust and concrete. The last trickles of sunlight now beamed through the open wall of the warehouse, following the bits of dust in their downward spiral as they settled on top of the wreckage.

Once again, the warehouse was silent, and deathly still, as nothing and no one inside moved.

~~H50~~


	2. Chapter 2

_****__**Thanks to everyone for your wonderful reviews of the first chapter. To those of you who haven't activated private messaging, I thank you, too. It seems many of you did not appreciate the "evil" cliffhanger. I could say I was sorry, but then I would be lying... :) I hope to post on Mondays and Thursdays. As of last night, all is finished except the epilogue, and I am extremely thankful I made it that far!**_

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 2**_

"Nine-One-One, what is your emergency?"

"Need… help. Five-0. Ex-explo…sion. Use phone to—"

_"Ma'am, stay with me. We will triangulate your telephone signal and send help to you. Can you understand me? Stay on the phone with me."_

"I hear you. I-I'm OK." Kono coughed and then her voice sounded stronger. "I'll be OK."

Kono pressed the button for the speaker to turn on, set her phone down on the ground and looked at her surroundings. Chin Ho was a few feet away, lying on his back, his face turned away from her, a portion of the metal door across his lower body.

"Chin!"

_"Miss,"_ the tinny voice came through the speaker on Kono's phone. _"I have dispatched HPD and Fire and Rescue. Is this Kono?"_

"Wait. Chin's hurt." Kono started to crawl to her cousin's side but cried out as pain shot through her wrist when she put her hand on the ground. She fell forward as the pain shooting from her wrist traveled all the way to her shoulder.

_"Please don't move. And stay on the line. Talk to me."_

"I'm OK," Kono assured the voice once again. "And yes, I'm Kono."

_"Kono, this is Ellie in Dispatch. I know Chin and I remember you from when you were a young girl. Hang in there for me, help is on the way. Is anyone else involved?"_

"Yeah." Kono raised up her aching head and looked around, realizing the enormity of the blast. "Danny and Steve… I… they're not here." She looked around wildly, beginning to panic. "I don't see them," she shrieked. ** "**Wait. They have to still be inside. I need-"

_"Kono, listen to me. You're injured. I don't want you to move. Do you understand me? Wait for help to get there."_

Kono saw Chin's foot move and heard a groan from his direction. She knew better than to try to put her hand down again, so she picked up her phone and began to scoot the short distance to her cousin's side.

"Chin. Hey, can you hear me?" she asked, reaching his side as he groaned once again. He moved his head in the direction of her voice and she saw the blood covering his face from a cut at his hairline. He stared at her, dazed, before finally speaking.

"Kono?"

"Yeah, Cuz, I'm here. Take it easy."

Chin finally managed to focus on his cousin. "You're hurt," he told her, reaching up a shaky hand to touch the bruise already forming around her eye.

"I'm OK," she quickly assured him.

With another groan, Chin pushed the piece of metal off his leg, and then hissed when the movement caused pain to blossom in his right arm. Blood was freely dripping from a gash in his forearm, dripping onto the ground.

"That smarts," he mumbled, cradling the arm tightly to his chest. With a deep breath, he rolled to his left, onto his stomach, dropping his head onto his left arm when his entire world somersaulted.

"Chin, don't move," Kono warned him, still beside him, propped up on one arm, holding her other wrist close against her. "Rescue is on the way."

"That's good." He raised his head and glanced toward her, noticing the way she positioned herself to keep weight off her left arm and side. "Are you OK?"

She nodded, still shell-shocked. "I think so. Just got the wind knocked out of me."

"And you're bleeding," he nodded toward her arm.

She agreed and nodded back. "So are you."

Chin glanced where ten minutes ago, the front of the building had been. One metal door had been blown entirely off its hinges; the other hanging, twisted, by only its bottom hinge. Chunks of concrete and twisted steel filled the area and dust and debris continued to swirl around them.

"Any sign of Steve and Danny?"

"No, I… I… just found you. Chin, they are still in there. We need to—"

"It's okay, Kono, we'll find them," her cousin assured her. He managed to get his knees beneath him, wincing when his skinned knee touched the concrete. He stood, and then staggered, holding his hand to his head. "Head rush. Are your ears ringing?" he asked his cousin.

"Big time," she replied. "Like a gong going off. Can you help me up? I can't put pressure on my wrist, but my legs are fine."

"You sure?"

_"Chin Ho Kelly, don't do it,"_ came a voice from the phone in Kono's hand.

"Ellie?" he asked, and grimaced, taking the phone from Kono. "I'm OK, but we've got two team members who are not. We're gonna need a rescue team."

_"On the way, big guy. You just take care of yourself and Kono for the time being. No moving around."_

"Yes, ma'am," he replied. "I'm giving you back to Kono," he told her, then reached down a hand to pull his cousin upright. "Take it easy," he warned.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before letting go of his hand. "I'm good."

Together, they walked a bit shakily toward the hole in the warehouse wall and stared at the tremendous chaos before them. Chin pointed to the left hand side. "I had just walked through the door and Danny was headed over to back up Steve. He wasn't too far away."

Kono gingerly dropped back to her knees. "Then let's find out," she replied. "Danny? Danny, can you hear me?" she asked while pushing aside a chunk of concrete.

"Careful, Kono," he ordered. "We have to watch what we move. Who knows what else could fall."

"Chin," she turned toward him, determination on her face. "We have to get them out."

"I know. And we will. After help arrives." He looked back at the destruction and gingerly dropped to her side. "But it won't hurt to get a head start," he told her. "Danny. It's Chin." He had to stop and cough, holding his side as pain flared in his ribs. Gaining his breath, he tried again. "Danny, come on, let me know if you can hear me. Talk to us."

They stopped to listen, the silence mocking them.

"Hey, Brah, come on, please," Kono begged, then stopped when she heard a muffled sound. She looked at her cousin and saw the recognition in his eyes as well.

"Danny?" they both shouted.

"-m here," they heard his voice choke out and watched a piece of concrete near the floor tumble. When the dust cleared, they could see the heel of Danny's leather shoe.

"We've got you, Brah," Chin told him, kneeling gingerly on the hard ground. "Danny, we can see your foot. Help is on the way. Be careful," Chin warned when Kono reached for another chunk of concrete. "We need to leave it alone so it won't come down on top of them."

"—you hear me?" They heard a muffled voice from beneath the rubble.

"Yes, we hear you!" Kono replied.

He coughed raggedly. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, Brah, we're good," Chin assured him. "How badly are you hurt?"

"Been better. My legs are both pinned down, but other than that, I'm OK. If you discount the freight train going through my skull and the fact that I'm stuck, I'm just peachy. Just don't want the rest of this stuff to fall down on top of me. I'm in sort of a pocket where nothing fell except on my legs."

"Got it. I can hear sirens, so they'll be here soon. We're going to wait for them, Danny," Chin decided. "We might cause something else to shift and that wouldn't be good."

"Yeah," he agreed, and then began coughing once again. "You got McGarrett with you?"

"No," Chin replied.

"Damn, he was behind me," Danny realized. "Steve? Hey! McGarrett, can you hear me?"

The cousins watched as more of the concrete wiggled.

"Danny! Don't move," Chin ordered. "Stay still!"

"But Steve's in there."

"I know he is. We'll get both of you."

Williams coughed again, and then said, "He-uh- pushed me toward the door when everything blew."

"You said you are in a pocket," Chin began. "Can you see anything?"

"Well, it's pretty dark, but I can see a bunch of chunks of concrete with metal sticking out of it. Sounds like help has arrived," he added when he heard loud sirens suddenly stop.

"Yeah, hang tight, Brah. It won't be long," Chin assured him.

~~H50~~

Chin's "it won't be long" prediction wasn't entirely accurate. The rescue team took time to put up lighting so they could see what they were dealing with before actually moving any of the debris. They kept up a running dialogue with Danny for the duration. Dialogue which became more vocal the longer Danny was trapped.

They could hear another team yelling McGarrett's name from the side of the blown-out building. Once Danny was removed, they intended to triangulate their positions and hopefully find the other team member by digging inward from both directions.

EMS descended on Chin and Kono, treating their injuries. Kono's sprained wrist was wrapped and she had an ice pack on it to reduce swelling. In addition to the wrist, she had numerous small nicks and cuts from the flying debris and bruises developing on her legs and arms from the impact after she was thrown.

Chin had three steri-strips closing the cut on his forehead. He also bore several small cuts on his face, neck and hands from the fragments of concrete. His arm was wrapped with gauze in two separate places, both bandages already tinged slightly with blood. Stitches or glue would be required to close those gashes as well as one on his knee which was cut by the sharp metal of the door.

Each cousin was adamant that he and she would not be making a trip to the hospital until after their teammates were rescued. They sat on the back of two EMS vehicles, holding oxygen masks to their faces, watching the progress from the warehouse.

The rescue team on Danny's side had gotten quiet, concentrating on their movements, removing the rubble from around the trapped man. The pocket he was in no doubt saved his life, but thankfully they were close enough to see him. The last piece of concrete was removed from on top of his left shin, his shredded pants allowing the workers to get their first look at his bruised and bloody leg. A piece of twisted metal rested above his right thigh, and it needed to be pried loose before he could be pulled out.

"Come on, guys, just yank on it," Danny urged. "You've got to get me out of here so you can help look for Steve."

"Be patient, Detective," one of the team commented, knowing Danny was worried about his partner. "We're taking baby steps."

"Well, do a 'leap' and be done with it."

Chin walked over to the doorway to check on Danny's progress. "Hang in there, Brah. Like he said, 'be patient'."

"Easy for you to say," Williams groused, and then took his first look at Chin Ho. "Hey, you OK? That cut on your head might need stitches."

"I'll be fine," Chin assured. "You've been hit by shrapnel, too."

"Chunks of flying concrete kinda hurt, don't they?" Danny asked.

"Yeah," Chin agreed, and then pointed to his bloody knee. "And the hard landing didn't help matters."

Danny raised his head and looked behind him, then turned back to Chin, opening his mouth to speak.

Chin Ho shook his head. "Don't, Danny. They'll find him."

"Well, you'd better be right," Danny replied as Kono walked over to them.

"Hey, Cuz, you doing OK?"

She rolled her eyes. "My keeper wouldn't let me leave the bus. Said I still appeared shocky. So I had to wait until she started talking to someone to make my escape. How are you doing, Danny?"

"You know, just layin' around, twiddling my thumbs."

"OK, here we go," the lead rescue worker said. He turned to Chin and Kono and held his arms wide. "You two need to move back." He turned back to Danny. "Ready?"

"Need you ask?"

"Let us do the work. Since we can't get a backboard all the way in there, we're going to lift by your arms and legs in case you have injuries you don't realize. Once we get you out, we'll get you on the board."

"Come on, guys, let's do this. Get me outta here."

"On three. One. Two—"

An ominous creaking sound was heard above Danny's head and they paused in their count.

For a millisecond.

"Three – move it!"

The team pulled Danny out of his pocket of rubble in the same moment that the cubbyhole he was lying in disappeared in a pile of wreckage and choking dust.

"Everyone back!" the rescue squad leader ordered when they were descended upon by EMS techs along with the rescue workers from the side of the building. "The entire building is unstable," he warned, holding back the people. "We're setting the perimeter back twenty feet."

Danny was quickly placed on a backboard which was loaded onto a gurney and wheeled back toward the ambulance, Chin and Kono following.

"Hey!" Williams tried to turn around to see the workers. "Steve is still in there. Get busy."

"Detective, before we start digging, we need to make sure the area is safe. And right now, it doesn't appear to be. We're going to get set up before we begin extraction. And it will be a slow process."

"He was right behind me, I know he was," Danny told him, then started a coughing jag while he tried to catch his breath. The EMS tech replaced the oxygen mask that Williams once again pushed aside. "You won't have far to look, I'm telling you. Just clear out that stuff. He was right behind me."

"They'll do their best," the tech assured him, forcing the mask back on his face past Danny's flying hands. "Now, you let them get you to the hospital."

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm not going anywhere." Danny's proclamation was halted again by his coughing.

"Work with us, Detective," the tech ordered, holding the mask in place. "You need to get checked out. This leg needs stitches and you've got numerous other cuts and scrapes and who knows what other internal injuries. Anything feel like it is broken other than your leg?"

Danny jerked free from the mask and held it in his hand. "No. And the leg isn't broken either. But I'm not going anywhere until Steve is out of there."

"Us, either," Chin stated for both Kono and himself.

Danny held the mask back on his face and took a couple more breaths of fresh air before lifting the oxygen once more. "So do what you need to do here," he told the tech. "Because I'm staying."

"We'll wrap the leg, but seriously, it's a mess. You need a hospital… the sooner, the better."

"Then clean it and wrap it," Danny ordered, slapping the mask back onto his own face, and turning to Chin and Kono. "We'll wait for our partner for as long as it takes."

~~H50~~

_Dark. _

_Heat. _

_Pain. _

_He tried to hold onto a single thought, but his brain wouldn't cooperate. _

_Or couldn't. Maybe nothing worked. _

_Intense, agonizing pain. _

_The kind that won't let go._

_He tried to move away from it, but his body refused. _

_The pain wouldn't stop. _

_It was everywhere; his head, chest, back, leg. He wanted to get comfortable. Anything would be better than this. _

_But nothing moved. _

_Cloying heat. It was all around him; inside him. _

_He couldn't get a breath into his starving lungs._

_Where was he?_

_Utter blackness. Were his eyes open? He couldn't tell. _

_Eyes. _

_They burned with a fire inside._

_His skull was on fire. Flames licking the backs of his eyes. _

_Burning his tears before they could fall._

_And the noise. Unending._

_He was in total darkness, but it wasn't quiet. _

_He would give anything to be able to hold his hands over his ears just to get away from the roar._

_But the noise was inside his head._

_Why?_

_Where was he?_

_And why was he alone? _


	3. Chapter 3

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 3**_

Three hours.

The trio put up a unified front and finally, EMS gave up trying to get them to go to the hospital. Not that any of the three were healthy, by any means. When they removed the oxygen masks from their faces to talk, the coughing began anew. Therefore, talking was sparse because it would bring on the deep coughing jags. And then the EMS techs would swarm around them once again.

They sat and watched helplessly, their fear compounding as the hours ticked by. They tried to hear what the workers were saying, but it was impossible to hear over the loud drone of machinery. When they did ask for updates, they were told there was nothing to tell; Steve was still buried beneath the rubble. Night fell, and harsh spotlights were set up around the side of the damaged building.

Finally, Danny took his phone from his pocket and hit the screen to light it up. He sighed when he realized it was after ten p.m. It wasn't even dusk when this disaster began. He set his phone in his lap and pulled off the oxygen mask and cleared his throat.

"At least we went in knowing it was a trap," he told his friends. "Like that did us any good."

"They'll get him," Kono assured him, turning toward Chin. "Right, Cuz?"

Chin Ho nodded staring at the workers hunkered down in the rubble of the building. "Yeah. But it needs to be soon," he admitted.

A shout was heard from somewhere inside and then they heard cheers. Danny scrambled to his feet before the EMS tech reached for his arm to stop him.

"I've got to—" Williams began, pulling his arm free.

The tech forced him to stand still. "You need to wait here. You can't be moving around on that leg or you will start the bleeding again. All of you sit tight. I'll go find out what's going on."

Danny nodded and leaned back against the EMS vehicle until the tech went around the corner of the building. He tossed the mask aside and reached down an arm to pull Kono to her feet. Once they all three were upright, they limped toward the rescue team, picking up on the hurried conversation.

"… got a pulse in the ankle."

"How can we get him out?"

"It's going to take some digging and cutting, but my main concern is what's going to happen to 'im before we get his ass out of there. It's gonna be a while and he needs medical care ASAP."

"There's a bomb squad working out of Tripler; docs and nurses who have worked the trenches. I can give them a call."

"That'll work," the tech nodded. "Let me get back in there."

A shout from deeper in the rubble was heard. "Shit. Gonna need a Saws-All or something. There's a chunk of concrete across his legs and the rebar went through his thigh. No way we're gonna try to get that out."

Kono gasped at hearing the news and Chin placed his hand on her shoulder to steady her while his eyes met Danny's worried ones.

The supervisor sighed and shook his head. "Let me get Tripler on the phone. See if you can work around the concrete and get more of the debris off him." He glanced at his watch. "Looks like it's gonna be a mighty long night, boys."

Thirty minutes later, Danny looked upward when he heard the whap-whap sound of the chopper overhead. It lowered, then circled before disappearing from his sight, landing on the parking lot of the warehouse next door. Near his car. Or where he hoped his car was still parked. The windows were down and Steve had left the key in the ignition.

Again.

Danny shook his head, playing the same old argument between the two of them in his head. And he only hoped that soon he could 'explain' to his partner once again why leaving keys in an unlocked car was not a good idea. Especially his car. And in the middle of nowhere.

But Williams knew that he would gladly give up any and all rants if he could just get a glimpse of his partner.

Danny's introspection was interrupted when four crew members from the chopper walked through the tree line, carrying their equipment. A female in scrubs and a camo jacket stopped in front of them, staring at each of the team members.

"Well, if you three are here, banged up like this, I can only guess who we're trying to rescue."

"Dr. Palakiko?" Danny asked, peering at the woman in the glare of the lights, trying to get a good look at her.

"One and the same." She raised a hand at the lead EMS tech before turning to one of her staff. "I'm guessing these three have no intention of leaving until the commander has been rescued, so make sure they are comfortable." She turned back to the trio. "If he offers you drugs, take them, and drink water to stay hydrated," she ordered. "I'll keep you posted with what I find."

"Thank you," Chin replied for them as the worker with her set down his pack and conferred with EMS regarding their injuries.

"Hey! Get him out of there," Danny called to her back.

She waved her hand over her head in acknowledgement as she moved toward the blown out wall and dropped her pack. "What do we have?"

"We'll soon have him free with the exception of a piece of concrete across his legs. The rebar in the concrete penetrated his thigh for a through-and-through. Wanted to wait for you before deciding how to cut it from the chunk of plaster."

"Let me get a look."

"Begging to disagree, Ma'am, but there's not much room in there and the area is mighty unstable."

The doctor set her helmet on her head, fastened it in place and turned on the LED light attached to it. Reaching for a pair of goggles, she replied, "Look, I've been in far worse buildings in places a helluva lot more hostile than this, so let me through. You asked for our expertise, so let us do our jobs."

"Yes, Ma'am," the tech replied.

Palakiko was down on all fours, crawling through the opening in the wall. "And lose the ma'am!"

Kono looked at Chin and Danny. "I knew I liked her," she muttered.

~~H50~~


	4. Chapter 4

_**A couple notes before I begin. I now realize that some of these chapters are very short they seem longer when I'm writing them... so after this one, I hope to reconfigure the chapters to get more content per chapter. Some may still be longer than others, but I'm trying. And thanks again for all the wonderful reviews!**_

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 4**_

Dr. Palakiko shimmied herself into the hot, tight space next to Steve McGarrett. The low ceiling had been shored up with timber by the rescue workers, but she was still hunched over in a sitting position next to the two men removing debris, painstakingly, piece by piece.

Her first glance at her patient was not a positive one. She assessed what damage she could see, knowing what she couldn't see would most likely be the problem. The doctor knew they would make her leave soon so they could remove more of the debris around his head and shoulders, but she managed to wiggle her hand into the narrow space and feel for a pulse, her fingers against the clammy, blood-covered skin on his neck.

She was surprised when he turned his head in the direction of her touch. She moved her hand to his cheek, wiping away some of the sweat-slicked drywall and concrete dust.

"Hey, there, Commander. Are you awake?"

She wasn't surprised that she didn't receive a verbal reply, but she was pleased to see his fingers move. She reached down and held his hand in hers, patting it with her other hand. "Hang in there, McGarrett. We'll have you out of here soon."

"OK, Doctor," one of the workers called to her. "We're ready to shift and dig further in. You need to get out of here for a few minutes."

"Got it," she replied, "but I want my pack first so I can start an IV and get some fluids going." When the pack arrived within reach, she grabbed her supplies and cleansed a spot on his arm before inserting the IV and connecting the Ringers. With a syringe, she inserted meds to ease his pain until they could get him out. She didn't like pushing morphine without a full work up, but it looked as though they might be here a while.

She gave Steve's hand another squeeze. "I'll be back with everything we need to get you out of here, I promise. Just hang tight." She laid his hand back on the floor and scooted backwards out of the space.

_A touch. _

_Coolness against his hot skin. _

_Soft, feather touches on his cheek._

_In the distance, he thought he heard a voice. _

_But the roar inside his head refused to allow any other sound._

_The fingers encircled his hand. _

_Soft strokes on his fevered, broken skin._

_But all too quickly, the touch was gone._

_Wait. _

_Please._

_Don't go._

~~H50~~

Danny, Chin and Kono watched as Palakiko took off her helmet and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her sleeve while conferring with the rescue workers. They tried to hear snippets of her conversation before she turned and walked toward them.

"How are they looking, Brad?" she asked the intern who had been treating them.

"Banged up. Bruised. Bloody. This one," he pointed to Danny, "needs the leg debrided, but he refuses transport."

"You know, we are right here," Williams dryly commented.

"Guess asking you to go to the hospital is a waste of my time, isn't it?" Dr. Palakiko asked.

All three nodded. "Only when Boss Man can come with us," Kono replied.

"Enough about us. What's going on?" Danny asked, nodding toward the shredded building. "Could you get to him?"

The doctor shook her head. "They're still working on it. He's pretty banged up, but intact. But unfortunately, we're going to have to cut him out."

"How's that?" Chin asked.

She let out a sigh. "A piece of rebar went through his thigh. It's attached to a big chunk of concrete, so we're going to have to study how best to remove it. I didn't have a chance to assess all of his injuries. Not a lot of room in there and they were moving in to get the debris away from his head and shoulders. Then they have to try and shore up overhead before we begin to get him out. So, to answer the question of what's going on, I don't really know because they made me leave."

"But you're sure he's alive?" Danny asked.

"Yes, Detective," she smiled. "I am sure of that. He even squeezed my hand."

"He's awake?" Kono asked in surprise, her voice rising an octave. "He's stuck in there by himself and he's awake? We need to—"

Palakiko held her hands in front of her in a 'halt' position. "Hang on. He squeezed my hand. He's not awake and coherent, but the good news is that he isn't comatose. Most assuredly he is concussed and I can't begin to assess the other injuries, but we will definitely need to watch for blast lung. Actually, we'll be checking all of you for that symptom."

"What the hell is that?" Danny asked.

"Gases and forced air in an explosion can cause build up in your lungs. It is one of the most dangerous symptoms shown in bomb victims and may not present itself immediately. We'll definitely keep a close watch on his vitals for a couple days."

"Hey, Doc?" One of the rescue workers shouted for her attention and she turned around as he motioned for her.

"You've got space. Do what you need to do and then we'll get the saw in there."

"Roger." She put her helmet back on her head and turned back toward the team. "With luck we'll have him out in no time."

~~H50~~

"No time" was an additional hour during which they heard shouts and several muttered curses… both from Palakiko _**and**_ the rescue team. The intern who had checked out the team moved closer to see what was going on, and returned, shaking his head.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked.

The young man grinned. "Dr. P gave them a piece of her mind when they told her she needed to leave again. Said she wasn't coming out until her patient did. They've got saws and drills and everything else in there and she's right in the middle of it, making sure they don't do anything stupid. And apparently, that's exactly how she put it to them."

"Glad to know she's on our side," Chin replied.

The doctor nodded. "She's the best. And she is **always** on the side of her patient."

The continuous, high-pitched whine of the electric saw was causing the roar in all their heads to crescendo. There were a few short bursts of the tool, then more yelling, and another short burst before finally, they heard words that brought some hope.

"OK, let's get the backboard," one of the workers yelled. "And bring that rescue basket closer."

With Chin's help, Danny struggled to his feet and limped closer to the pile of debris that had been pulled out of the hole in the side of the building. He held his breath, waiting to see any sign of his partner through the throng of rescue workers who were all on their knees, peering into the hole, waiting to receive their patient.

"OK, here we go," one said when they grabbed hold of the board on each side, pulling it out. Palakiko crawled out behind her patient and was covered in as much dust as he was. Even after the tense screaming match a few minutes earlier, the rescue team cheered her when she was out of the hole.

"Hey, you guys were the ones who did all the work," she told them, leaning over her patient. The workers dispersed so the team from Tripler could converge on him and assess his situation.

And the task force got their first glimpse of their leader.

"Shit," Danny whispered.

~~~H50~~~


	5. Chapter 5

_**Here's a slightly longer chapter. Thanks to everyone for the reviews, alerts, etc. I am very humbled by them all. There are a couple of people who don't have private messaging, so I couldn't reply to your comment. Please know that I appreciate the time you take to review.**_

_**And once again, I have the BEST Betas around! You gals make it fun! **_

_**If I haven't said so recently, I still don't own any rights to any of this with the exception of Dr. P. But I am most glad they still let me borrow their characters from time to time. And Mahalo to CBS for renewing H50 for a third season! That news made my day!**_

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 5**_

"_Shit," Danny whispered._

Steve's hair was plastered slick to his head and he was sweat-drenched, thickly caked in drywall dust, debris, and bits of concrete. Even more disturbing, he was also covered in blood, some long dried and some still oozing from the wounds.

They stared at the three-quarter-inch diameter piece of pipe that was through Steve's thigh. Bandages, now soaked with blood, were wrapped tightly around both his leg and the piece of rebar in an attempt to keep it from moving and causing further damage to his leg. The doctor's backpack had been pushed under his knee so that the exit wound with the other end of rebar wasn't pressing against the board. More blood-soaked bandages covered his arms and a brace was holding his neck stationary.

But the rebar was soon forgotten when their eyes were drawn to Steve's face and head. Gauze was wrapped around his head, holding in place thick pads of bandages covering both eyes. The gauze already showed signs of blood stains leaking through from numerous head wounds. Beneath the oxygen mask, dried blood from his nose was smeared over the lower half of his face and the neck brace was already tinged red from the blood still dribbling from his ear.

They watched in silence while the doctor and her team quickly checked him. Dr. Palakiko started to stand when McGarrett raised his hand, searching for her. She knelt by his side and spoke to him, one hand clasping his hand and the other on top of his head. She patted his hand, and then reached for the oxygen mask, raising it a bit, listening to him.

She heard only one whispered word.

"Team?"

Replacing the mask, she turned and looked at his team, then leaned down next to his ear. "They're right here and they are fine. A little battered and bruised, but they're OK. Now, Commander, we are going to take a chopper ride."

Palakiko stood up and nodded to her crew who quickly placed the backboard into the litter and strapped him in before picking it up and heading toward the chopper. She came to stand in front of the small group who had kept close watch on their friend.

"Now-" she began, before being cut off by Williams.

"I'm going with him," Danny demanded.

The doctor shook her head. "No." She held up her hand to stall him when he began to protest. "And I'll tell you why. You're not walking up that hill," her index finger pointed upward and then down, "on that leg. What you _are_ going to do is get loaded into these ambulances and go to Tripler for treatment. You all were in a serious explosion tonight and need to be thoroughly examined."

"But—"

She slashed her hands through the air. "I'm not finished. I'm getting on the chopper with McGarrett. Once you are treated, I'll find you and fill you in on his condition. Just don't harass the staff who will be helping you. I'll talk to you as soon as I can. Do we have a deal?"

"What's wrong with his eyes?" Kono quietly asked the question that was worrying each of them.

"The bandages are a precaution," she assured them. "He was hit with a lot of dust and debris. I don't want him to open his eyes until we can assess them and make sure there is no damage from foreign objects. Now… I need to go. But I promise I'll see you later."

Chin spoke for the three of them. "We'll be waiting."

~~H50~~

"I'm telling you, this wasn't part of the deal," Danny argued with the orderly who was wheeling him to the third floor of Tripler Army Medical Center.

Once they were in the elevator, the orderly checked the chart in his hand, and then grasped the ID bracelet circling his patient's wrist. "Danny Williams, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"Well, Danny, my name is Jake, and Dr. Palakiko was very adamant about keeping you and your team mates in the hospital for observation."

"That is totally not necessary," Danny continued to argue as they reached the third floor. "No, no, no, I'm not being admitted."

"Begging to differ with you, but you already have been," Jake informed him with a grin.

"On whose authority? Give me my phone. Let me—"

"Your personal items will be sent up later. And this is on Dr. Palakiko's authority. She wants you on oxygen therapy tonight. Besides, after having that leg cleaned and sutured, I doubt you should be walking on it."

Danny was still complaining while being wheeled into a double room, only to find Chin sitting on the bed by the window. He looked up upon hearing Danny's argumentative voice.

"You, too, Brah?"

"Chin! That woman's insane. I'm checking out AMA."

"Uh, Danny, I wouldn't do that if I were you. When I was brought up, I was warned that if we didn't cooperate, we couldn't see Steve."

The orderly helped Danny up from the chair and onto the bed, ducking Danny's flying hands as he did so.

"What have you heard?"

"Nothing yet," Chin replied.

"Maybe Kono can find something out," Danny decided. "Has she been by?"

Chin shook his head when Jake piped up. "Kono Kalakaua? She's down the hall in 316. I brought her up earlier. She wasn't any happier than the two of you, I might add." Jake turned the wheelchair around and headed out the door. "Take it easy tonight. You better listen to Dr. P. … she knows what she's doing."

"Not a chance. And here I thought I liked Palakiko," Danny muttered. "I can't wait to give her a piece of my mind."

"Yeah, I know the feeling."

"Hey," Danny looked more closely at his friend, noticing Chin's hair was wet and he was decidedly cleaner than the last time he saw him. "How'd you get a shower?"

"Soon as I got here, they told me I could clean up." He pointed to his outfit. "Of course, they stole my clothes and gave me scrubs afterwards."

"How bad's your arm and head?" Danny asked.

Chin made a face. "Eighteen stitches near the elbow and another eight in my bicep. Stings like hell." He reached up a hand and touched his temple. "Five up here, I think. How about you?"

"My leg looks like something chewed it up and spit it back out, but they used stitches and glue to hold it together. Said I have a couple cracked ribs though. And a buzz saw is still going off inside my head. Think I could sneak in the shower?"

"There is no sneaking around here," a tall, dour-faced nurse said as she entered the room. "But I will allow you a shower, if you're up to it." She looked Danny up and down. "How's your head?"

"I'm fine."

"That's not what I asked, Mr. Williams. You were in an explosion tonight and I'm sure you have a headache, am I correct?"

"Um, yeah, but not—"

"Any ringing in your ears?"

He took a deep breath, and then coughed, wincing at the tug on his sore ribs. "Yeah, a little."

"How about dizziness?"

"No."

"All right, here's the deal," she told him. "I'll wrap your leg so that it doesn't get wet and then I'll help you into the shower. You sit on the bench and clean up and after that, I'll help you back to bed."

"I don't—"

"I didn't ask if you wanted or needed my help. I'm telling you this is how you get a shower on my watch. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good boy." And then Nurse Ratchet did something unexpected. She smiled, totally changing her demeanor. "My name is Anita, by the way. Now, cooperating wasn't so bad was it?"

Danny glanced at Chin who was smiling at him and then turned back to Anita. "I was afraid you would rip me to shreds if I said no," Williams admitted.

"Once you get settled tonight, the doctor does want you both and your friend Kono, on oxygen. Your breath sounds are all compromised and the doctor wants to monitor everyone for possible complications. But the rest of your injuries look to be minor, so I'm betting you'll all be free to go in the morning. Although you will be sore for a few days."

"You don't have any news on McGarrett, do you?" Chin asked.

"Last I checked he was still in surgery," she told them. "But Dr. P promised she would be up here as soon as she knows anything… and she keeps her promises. Now," she turned again to Danny. "How about you get in and out of that shower before she shows up."

"Yes, ma'am."

~~H50~~

"Brought you a visitor," Anita spoke as she held the door open for Kono to enter.

Danny was out of the shower and was reclining on the bed, eyes closed, wearing scrubs identical to Chin's. Although it felt wonderful to be clean, he couldn't believe how much sitting on a bench getting soaked by water could wear you out. He slowly blinked and raised his head to see their visitor.

"Hi, guys," Kono told them, smiling as she walked to Chin's bed and got comfortable sitting at the end of it.

"Everything OK?" Anita asked, watching Danny.

"Yeah," he assured her before admitting, "Just tired. But thanks for the shower. It felt good."

She nodded and agreed with him, "I hope it helped ease some of your aches. OK, Dr. Palakiko will be up soon. She thought it would be easier to talk to all of you at the same time so she doesn't have to repeat herself." She pointed to Kono. "I'll be in later to take you back to your room."

"How ya doing, Kono?" Danny asked, checking out the ACE bandage on her arm and numerous cuts and scrapes he could see on her face and arms.

"I feel very lucky," she replied, holding up her wounded arm. "My wrist is sprained and other than lots of bruising and cuts, everything else is OK. But I can't believe she is making me spend the night."

"Join the club," Chin complained as the door opened.

"I hear grumbling among the troops," Dr. Palakiko commented as she came into the room. "And you're here so we can monitor you for diminished lung capacity. All three of you are coughing and wheezing and that is a symptom not to be taken lightly. So, for tonight, you're going to have to deal with it… and us." While talking, she moved Danny's tray table out of the way and perched on the end of the bed, facing Chin and Kono.

"So…" Danny began. "What's the verdict? About Steve."

The doctor smiled at them. "He's OK," she began. "I must say, your partner is a very resilient man. We are concerned with his lungs," she admitted, "but none of his injuries appear to be life-threatening. He looks a whole lot worse than he actually is, and he's going to be hurting for quite some time, but with rest and the proper treatment, he should recover very soon."

She could see disbelief on each of their faces. "Really, I swear, he's much less injured than we first believed. And I don't mind telling you now, but the first time I crawled inside that building, I was very concerned that things would go south any minute. Luckily, he proved me wrong." She then began listing Steve's injuries. "He has a concussion, but thankfully, no skull fracture. His right eardrum ruptured in the blast and he does have minimal damage to both eyes, so they are both still patched. His eyes will feel like he has grit in them for a week or so, but that sensation should clear up soon. His hearing will be compromised while the eardrum heals and because of the ear problems and the concussion, he will be plagued with dizziness and vertigo."

"How about his leg?" Kono asked.

"He was lucky there, too. The rebar went through muscle, didn't hit bone or damage any major arteries. The wound is packed and wrapped and other than being on crutches for a few days while the muscle heals, he should make a full recovery. Although with the vertigo, he's going to need to take it easy and not move around much. Like the rest of you, McGarrett's body is covered in cuts and bruises, so he has been sutured in an assortment of places. When he fell, his lower back landed on a chunk of concrete and there is evidence of internal bleeding around his left kidney. We'll monitor that for a couple days to ensure no permanent damage has occurred."

She stopped listing his injuries and looked at each one of them. "Any questions?"

"For someone who is 'OK', he doesn't sound OK," Danny told her.

She shook her head. "_**You all **_were extremely lucky. I've seen a lot less damage to buildings where all we managed to do was pull bodies from the rubble. So," she smiled at them, "in the scheme of things, McGarrett is 'OK'.

"Which way to his room?" Danny asked.

The doctor shook her head. "Oh, no. Not tonight. They are still monitoring him in the recovery room. You'll get discharged in the morning and you can see him then."

"Come on," Williams wheedled. "We just want to see for ourselves."

"We'll all rest much better once we see Steve," Kono added, trying to sway the doctor.

"He's still asleep after the combination of anesthesia and the concussion and he'll most likely stay that way for a few hours."

Danny's arms cut through the air between them, pleading their case. "Then he won't mind that we're staring at him, will he?" He swung his legs off the bed and sat up. "And I swear, we'll come right back here and go to bed."

Dr. Palakiko stood as well. "I know you'll come right back to bed, because I'll make sure of it."

Anita walked in and asked, "Kono, are you about ready to go to your room?"

"Not yet. We're going to see Steve," she replied with a grin, unfolding her legs and carefully getting off Chin's bed. "Right, Doctor?"

"Doctor?" Anita questioned, looking to Palakiko for confirmation.

Palikiko shook her head, clearly giving in. "OK, you can go on one condition," she decided, pointing to Danny. "_**You**_ travel in a wheel chair."

"I don't—"

She stared him down. "If you want to see your partner, you will ride."

"I'll ride," he muttered, rolling his eyes at her.

She smiled at his annoyance. "Anita, would you mind bringing in a chair for Detective Williams?"

"Not at all. Be right back."

Chin moved near Danny and leaned down, muttering into his ear, "Be careful, Brah. Remember they have needles."

"And we're not afraid to use them, Detective," Palakiko reminded them.

"All a bunch of blood suckers and vultures, if you ask me," Danny grumbled, his grin belying his words.

Palakiko's phone rang as Anita returned with the chair, helping Danny get situated. The doctor placed the phone back into her pocket and told them, "Well, good news. The commander is once again surprising me. He came around for a bit and they feel he is progressing enough to be moved to a room. He's coming up from Recovery right now."

~~H50~~

_Gonna be sick. _

_Feel like I've been tossed from a plane. _

_Without a 'chute. _

_Head hurts… dizzy. _

_Stomach… rolling… upside down. _

_Hot… sticky. _

_Sick._

_Where am I? _

_Why can't I open my eyes? _

_Maybe they are open. _

_Why can't I see?_

_Floating. _

_Numb. Can't really feel anything. _

_Except the churning in my gut. _

_Don't move, maybe I'll feel better. _

_But I'm staying still. _

_Even in the dark, the whole world is spinning around me. _

_Voices? Hard to tell._

_Sound? Oh, yeah. _

_Clanging, screeching noise inside my head._

_Can someone please turn down the volume?_

_Please?_

_Really… I'm warning you. _

_I'm gonna hurl._

~~H50~~


	6. Chapter 6

_**OK, sorry everyone. I posted this first thing this morning, but never got a notification so I took it out and am trying again. sorry if I messed up anyone. **_

_**Several of you mentioned that you liked Steve's thoughts, so I added some in here at the last minute. Special thanks to sym64 for her quick read and beta and also to sockie1000 who is my "Reorder Queen". And, this time, as always, she makes the written word much better. Thanks, Ladies.**_

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 6**_

_Crap, that hurt._

_Told you I was gonna puke._

_Hands all over me._

_Hate it. _

_Hard to breathe._

_Hurts._

_Let me go!_

_Why won't you listen?_

_You need to stop. _

_Can't open my eyes. _

_Why can't I see?_

_Voices… what are they saying? _

_Please stop touching me._

_Can't move my arms. _

_Hands on my face._

_Cold cloth… OK, that feels good._

_Mouth feels like something died in there. _

_Water from the cloth on my lips._

_Thank you._

_More, please._

_No! Don't cover my face._

_Hurts. _

_Stop holding me down._

_Stop. Please. Just let me go. _

_Let me move._

_Let me see._

_Leave me alone._

"Please."

"Commander? Can you hear me?"

He heard the muffled voice through the pulsating sound that continually rushed through his head. He turned his head when he felt someone pick up his hand once again.

"If you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

He could do that. Piece of cake. His brain told his hand to squeeze, but his fingers remained still for several moments, before he finally felt them curl slightly around the hand holding his.

"Good job."

He felt the fingers stroking his hand while holding it down on the bed. He tried to raise it to feel his face, but he couldn't break her hold.

"You're going to be fine. Just relax for me. We're giving you something to help your stomach and help you sleep." She placed her hand on his head, her thumb rubbing it lightly.

_Stop. Don't touch me._

_Please._

_~~~H50~~~_

"What's taking so long?" Danny asked when Anita returned to usher them down the hall to Steve's room.

"They're cleaning him up a bit. He got sick on the trip down from Recovery. We'll head down there, but it may be a few more minutes before you can go in."

Several minutes later, Palakiko finally came into the hallway and met them. "Sorry for the delay," she told them while wheeling Danny into the room. "But he had a very unpleasant side effect from the anesthesia." She pushed the chair next to Steve's bedside. Chin and Kono followed, moving to the other side of the bed.

A nurse was leaning over her patient, her hand wrapped around his raised wrist. "Dr. P, he's still fighting the mask."

She glanced at the monitor above the bed and shook her head. "I know he's not happy, but the mask stays on for tonight," she replied, "whether he likes it or not."

The nurse placed Steve's hand down by his side and patted it before moving out of the way, allowing Danny and the doctor to move closer.

_Thank you. _

_Now stay away. _

Palakiko leaned down next to the bed to speak into her patient's left ear. "Commander, you need to stop fighting the drugs and go back to sleep. Just get some rest. I promise you'll feel better in the morning."

_More voices._

Steve raised his hand up once again to touch his face and Danny grabbed his wrist, holding it. "Cut it out, you big goof."

_Come on._

_Just leave me alone._

_I want to open my eyes. _

"Eyes." His voice was muffled beneath the mask and he tried to pull his arm away from Danny's hand so he could reach his face.

"Okay, let's do this," Danny replied, guiding Steve's probing fingers to his face allowing him to feel the bandages on his eyes.

_Finally! _

_Can feel my… not eyes. _

_Bandages?_

"It's just bandages; your eyes are going to be fine. Promise." Danny lifted the corner of the blanket and placed Steve's arm underneath, covering it and then patting it for good measure. "Now leave that there, you hear me?"

_I heard you. _

_You said my eyes are fine._

_OK. Guess I can live with that._

" 'K… thanks,… Doc…"

_Tired._

_Think I'm gonna… take a nap. _

Danny sat up straight in the wheelchair. "Did he just call me-?"

"Yeah, he did," Chin interrupted, a quizzical look on his normally stoic features.

Dr. Palakiko glanced at the monitor once again before looking at them. "Good. He's going back to sleep. Don't read anything into what he just said. Do you all still have ringing in your ears?"

Kono and Chin nodded when Danny replied, "Big time."

She smoothed the blanket over her patient. "Then imagine what we must sound like to McGarrett. In addition to all the noise, he has one eardrum that isn't functioning. I doubt he can hear much of anything with all the racket that's going on _**inside**_ his head."

"If you say so," Danny replied, taking another long look at his sleeping partner.

"I do. Now, you are going to be good little patients all night long, right?"

Kono led the procession out into the hall. "Yes, ma'am. We promised, boys, so be nice tonight."

Chin grinned. "We're always nice."

~~H50~~

It was almost 10 a.m. before Dr. Palakiko released Danny, and he was cleared then only after being taken downstairs for a second chest X-ray. He made a bee-line to Steve's room, still wearing the scrubs he was given the previous night. Chin and Kono had both been released earlier and had gotten a ride home, changed clothes and were bringing a car and clothes back for him. His dress pants from the previous day weren't salvageable and instead of trying to clean the shirt, it went into the trash with them.

Danny quietly entered the room, thankful to see that most of the monitors had been removed from around his partner's bed. The thick bandages that had been wrapped around Steve's head were also gone; one bruised eye was uncovered, the other still bandaged. The oxygen mask had been replaced by a cannula. His left leg was positioned on pillows and thick bandages were visible on his thigh even through the light blanket covering him. Every portion of uncovered skin had a bruise, cut or a scrape on it. Danny knew how achy his own bruises made him feel; he could only imagine how Steve would feel once he woke up. But he settled into the chair by the bedside, content to wait until that time.

He was leaning back, dozing in the uncomfortable plastic chair, arms folded and eyes closed when he heard a pained grunt. The sound jerked Danny to awareness in time to watch his partner's one exposed eye blink and then slowly open. Steve remained still, focusing on the ceiling before slowly turning his head to look around the room, finally settling on Danny.

Danny grinned at the lethargic actions from his partner. "Hey." He leaned close to the bed so Steve could hear him.

"Hey." Steve's voice was gravelly and he tried to clear his throat.

Williams spied a cup with ice on the bedside table and snared a piece with a spoon and held it up for Steve to see. He nodded and gratefully opened his mouth allowing Danny to drop it in. Steve's eye again slid closed while he savored the coolness soothing his dry throat.

"How are you feeling?"

Steve blinked at him and asked "What?"

Danny realized his partner was still having trouble hearing and leaned in closer to the bed. "I just asked how you were doing. I know your hearing is messed up right now."

"You sound like you're far away. And you're all blurry."

"You got some debris in your eyes from the explosion," Danny explained, pointing to his own eyes. "It will be fine, so don't worry about them."

Their conversation was interrupted by Danny's cell phone. He held it up and said, "HPD," before standing and moving to the end of the bed. He glanced up to see Chin and Kono come through the door and instead of interrupting their conversation, he went into the hall to take his call.

The other half of 5-0 moved closer to the bed, glad to see their leader awake. Steve slowly turned toward them, a look of confusion on his face before recognition dawned.

"Chin Ho Kelly!"

~~~H50~~~


	7. Chapter 7

_**OK, I may need to clarify something. I believe I mentioned at the beginning that this story is set in Season 1. The reason for that is I didn't have the energy to deal with the evil Governor Jameson, Joe White and Lori. So, to simplify everything, this is last year. I hope that doesn't throw you off.**_

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 7**_

"_Chin Ho Kelly!"_

Chin was surprised at the enthusiasm behind those words, but smiled and replied, "Hey, Boss. Good to see you awake."

"Boss?" Steve gave him a lopsided grin. "Hope my dad doesn't hear you say that. He would shoot both of us."

Kono grabbed Chin's arm, squeezing it tightly as he looked down at her, his eyes wide in shock. She looked up at him, her shock also evident. "I think I'll go find the doctor," she whispered.

Her cousin nodded his agreement and smiled at Steve once again, speaking loudly for his benefit. "She's going to tell your doctor that you're awake."

"Don't bother. He just left."

Chin moved to the other side of the bed and sat in the chair Danny had vacated. "Who? The doctor?"

"Yeah. Little guy wearing scrubs. He was just here."

"Nah, you got a lady doctor, Brah. She'll be here soon." _Not soon enough_, Chin thought to himself as he motioned for Kono to hurry.

"She's cute," Steve told Chin. "Girlfriend?"

"Who, Kono? She's my cousin."

"Huh? Talk louder. My head feels like it's full of cotton."

"I said she's my cousin." _Amnesia?_ Chin didn't do panic well. But he was feeling an attack coming on.

"Cute cousin."

_Brain damage? Crap. He's gonna have more than brain damage if he tells Kono that she's "cute" to her face._

~~~H50~~~

Kono raced into the hallway, running into Danny just as he hung up the phone.

"We got a problem, Brah. Steve thinks you're his doctor and I don't think he recognized me at all. But he remembered that Chin was his dad's partner."

"Let's get Palakiko in here. I knew last night something was wrong. I could just feel it."

They hurried as quickly as Danny could hobble down the hall to the nurse's desk, where Danny didn't even wait for her to acknowledge them. "We need Dr. Palakiko, and we need her now," he ordered.

The nurse rose from her chair. "Is Commander McGarrett all right?"

"Hell, no, he's not all right," Danny barked out. "He doesn't know us. Now find that doctor."

Kono placed her hand on his arm to calm him and turned to the nurse. "Please. We need to speak to her now."

The nurse nodded toward Kono. "Of course. Just give her a moment to get here. Why don't you wait and I'll have her meet you here at the desk."

"Thank you," Kono replied while Danny leaned against the wall, running both hands through his hair and down his neck.

"Danny, it's going to be OK," Kono assured him, propping herself against the wall next to him.

~~~H50~~~

"So…" Steve began, looking unsure of himself. "Looks like you had an accident, too." He waved his hand toward the bandaged cuts on Chin's face and neck.

"Yeah, no worries," Chin Ho told him. "I'm fine."

Steve continued, and Chin could see the fear on his face. "Must've done a number on myself if they shipped me back home, right? How bad is it?"

"Your injuries?" Chin asked. At Steve's hesitant nod, he shook his head. "You're not too badly injured. You were very, very lucky. We all were."

"Then why'd they ship me back to Hawaii?"

"I – uh…"

He was saved by the doctor.

Palakiko entered the room followed by Danny and Kono. "Hello there," she began, moving around the bed and motioning Chin to give her space. She leaned over and smiled at her patient, speaking louder than normal. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm OK," he began.

"Those are your first words to me?" She muttered. "I don't believe it."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Tell me, how does your head feel? And don't lie." She examined the monitor over the bed and then picked up his wrist to feel his pulse.

"Hurts a little," he admitted. "What's wrong with my eye?"

"We removed some dust and particles of debris in it," she replied. "The bandage is precautionary. Don't want you to rub it and make it worse." She flicked a flashlight into his uncovered eye, checking his reaction. "How about your hearing? Can you hear me?"

"Kind of. Lots of white noise in my head."

She nodded. "I don't doubt it."

"What?"

The doctor smiled and explained, touching the right side of his head. "You ruptured an eardrum on that side. The noise should clear up in a few days. Now… you received a concussion, so I need to ask some basic questions."

"Lieutenant Commander Steven McGarrett," he answered before she asked.

She smiled and nodded. "Good. That was the first question. Do you know where you are?"

He nodded. "Hospital. But why am I in Hawaii?"

Palakiko held up her finger, stalling him. "I'm still asking the questions. And you're at Tripler. Do you remember what happened to you?"

Steve thought for a moment, confusion written on his face before replying, "Explosion."

"And where were you when this happened?"

McGarrett shook his head. "Classified, Ma'am."

"Of course it is," she agreed. "Do you remember what happened after the explosion?"

He thought once again, then swallowed before explaining, "I… uh… hit the wall." He reached his hand up to rub across his face, but she grabbed it before he had a chance to touch his eyes. "Then I fell backwards, and I remember… the wall fell on me. Not much after that. I… there was a chopper, I think. Don't remember the trip back home at all."

"Let's not worry about that just yet, Commander. It will come. One more question. Do you remember what day the explosion happened?"

"I…" He squeezed his eyes shut and sucked in his breath. "Headache," he admitted.

"I'll give you something soon," the doctor promised. "Now, can you tell me the month and year?"

"It's… I was in… no, that's classified. Explosion was Tuesday. May, 2010. Right?" He opened his eyes waiting for her confirmation.

Dr. Palakiko glanced at the three stunned faces of the people standing near the doorway before looking back at her patient. "Well, you missed a little bit in your calculation, but that's good enough for now," she assured him. "I'm going to give you something for pain and I want you to rest today and get some much needed sleep. We're going to take good care of you. Any questions?"

"Yeah… when can I get out of here?"

The doctor snorted. "When I say so, all right? And not a moment sooner. I'll have the nurse come in with some pain meds. When you wake up, we'll have some lunch for you. Now get some rest," she ordered, smiling at him.

She turned to leave, motioning for the team to precede her out of the room.

"What—" Danny began before she held up her hand.

"Let's go to the lounge and sit down," she told them, walking toward the nurse's station motioning for them to follow. "I don't know about you, but I need coffee." Once there, she showed them the doctor's lounge and stopped to talk to the nurse.

"Kala, Commander McGarrett needs his pain meds, please. I want him checked every half hour while he sleeps. And you can order a bland diet lunch tray for him, also. He has partial retrograde amnesia, so try to be generic in answering any questions he may have. I'd rather him regain his memories on his own."

The nurse acknowledged her orders and Palakiko turned to follow the team into the lounge, not looking forward to being grilled by the three people waiting for her.

~~~H50~~~

_What the hell is going on?_

_And who were those people with the doc?_

_Why was Chin Ho here? Haven't seen him since I was a kid._

He reached up his hand to rub his eyes once again, but remembered the doctor's warning and dropped it back down to the bed. He sighed in frustration and closed his eyes.

_Crap, my head hurts. And trying to think doesn't help._

_Why can't I remember?_

_I came half way across the world and don't remember the trip at all?_

_Makes no sense. _

He sensed movement and slowly opened his eye, causing the stabbing pain behind it to begin again.

"Sorry," Kala whispered. "I hope I didn't wake you." She checked his wristband to ensure she had the right patient before emptying the contents of the syringe into the IV line. "You should begin feeling pain relief very soon."

"Um, yeah," he replied, feeling the warmth travel up his arm to spread throughout his body.

"Just rest," she told him. "I'll be back to check on you soon."

"Unh…" The words wouldn't come.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

_~~~H50~~~_

Shortly before dinner, Dr. P. and Anita entered Steve's room, Anita pushing a rolling cart in front of her. Palakiko began checking her patient's vitals when he woke up, turning his head to stare at her.

He blinked to clear his vision. "We need to talk," he began, then tried to lick his dry lips.

"All right," she agreed while pouring a cup of water, placing a straw in it and holding it to his lips. "We're here to change your dressings, so we can talk at the same time." After a few sips of the cold water, she took it back. "I think that's enough for now. How are you feeling?"

"You're gonna have to speak louder," he grumbled. "Still sounds like an F-18 leaving an aircraft carrier inside my head."

"Give it a few days and that should disappear," the doctor assured him, "I'm going to raise the bed a bit, so you might get dizzy. Just take slow, even breaths. Ready?" She pressed the button on the bed.

He grabbed the bedrail and sucked in his breath. "Shit," he whispered.

"Breathe."

"Room's…" he clinched his mouth and closed his eye while making motion circles with his hand.

She placed her hand lightly on his forehead to ground him. "Take a deep breath and relax. It will pass." She waited a beat for him to comply, then continued, "The vertigo is due to your injured eardrum. Any sudden movement is going to aggravate it for a few days." As she spoke, she used a light to inspect his right ear. "Hmm, looks pretty raw in there," she told Anita. "Give me those drops and some gauze, please. We're going to need to clean this."

He kept his jaw clinched while she cleansed his very tender ear, after which she continued to lean over him, poking and prodding each the scrapes and cuts on his head and neck. "So, you wanted to talk to me?" she asked him while removing the tape from the bandage covering his eye.

"Yeah." He took a breath, grimacing when she pulled tape from his cheek. "No more drugs," Steve told her. "All day people kept coming in and shooting me up with stuff. Don't like it."

She continued to work while listening to his complaint. "Close both eyes before I remove this final piece of gauze," she told him, motioning to Anita to lower the lights. "The light is dim, but the glare will probably still hurt," Palakiko warned. "Now… open up and let me check them."

He had trouble getting his right eye open and immediately began blinking when both eyes started watering. "Hurts. What's in there?" he asked, squeezing them tightly shut before she could use her penlight again.

"Nothing now," she assured him, "but the debris scratched your cornea, so you have that gritty feeling. It will heal, but while it is doing so, keeping it closed will be more comfortable. I'm going to insert an antibiotic before I bandage it again. Your left eye is scratched a bit, too, but I didn't want to leave both of them covered, so please don't rub it." She took the tube from Anita and pried open his eye.

"So," she continued their conversation. "Let me get this straight. You received pain meds without asking for them, right?" Dr. Palakiko grinned and glanced over to the nurse. "Anita, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it still part of our job descriptions to keep our patients comfortable?"

"That's part of the reason I became a nurse," Anita agreed with her, covering his eye with the new bandage once the antibiotic was in place.

"But, I don't need 'em," McGarrett argued. "SEALs are taught to manage pain, but I can't even think when you keep me drugged up. I need to get up and—"

She stopped taping the bandage in place and held up her hand. "Hold it right there, Buster! You do not _**need**_ and will _**not**_ get up. By no means are you ready to get out of this bed. Twenty-four hours ago, you—" she bit off her comment, hoping he didn't catch the slip of her tongue.

No such luck.

"Twenty four hours ago, what?"

"Nothing, really," she tried to backpedal. "You weren't really conscious yet." Dr. Palakiko began cutting the gauze away from his upper arm and accepted a wipe from Anita, cleansing the stitched cut, before replacing the bandage and moving to another area.

"I've been lying here thinking-"

She interrupted once again. "When you should have been lying here _resting or sleeping_, like I ordered."

He ignored her. "Don't understand why I was transferred to Hawaii. And I need to know about the rest of my team. And, most important, I want that damn plumbing removed."

The doctor unsnapped the shoulder of his hospital gown and lowered it to check the damage to his chest and stomach. "And people in hell want ice water," she retorted, examining him while ignoring his mini-rant.

"Bruising's pretty widespread," she commented to the nurse before placing one hand on Steve's shoulder. "Anita, help me over there, please. Commander, we're going to help you roll to your right so I can check the damage to your back. The dizziness will probably return."

"Hasn't left," he admitted, sucking in air when they rolled him and the room somersaulted once again.

"Don't forget to breathe," she reminded, while touching a particularly sore spot over his left kidney. He couldn't hide the hitch in his breath at the sudden pain her touch caused.

"When you fell, you landed on a chunk of jagged concrete," she explained. "You have both external and internal bruising of your kidney, which is the reason you have 'plumbing', as you call it. And no, I won't take it out until you quit passing blood." She removed the blanket from his legs and reached for the bandage scissors, snipping at the thick layers of gauze wrapped around his thigh. "Let's see what your leg looks like," she said, explaining to him, "a piece of rebar went through it, and while you are lucky it didn't hit anything vital, this is the reason your butt's staying in bed."

"And the longer I lay here and don't move, the harder it will be to get up," he argued. "I know my limits, but I also know what my body is capable of."

Palakiko continued cleaning the wounds on his leg, listening as he tried not to hiss in pain. "That may be true," she admitted. "But doing too much, too quickly is only going to hinder your healing. And this is going to take a while to heal; you've got a chunk out of your muscle." She wrapped clean gauze around his leg, taped him back together and then helped him roll back over. "Besides, until you can sit up without turning that nice shade of green you've got going on, you're not getting out of bed. I doubt you want to face plant onto the floor!"

He let out his breath, and tried once again. "Tell me why I'm here? What has happened? You said… when you asked me about the date, you said I was missing some time. If I'm here with these injuries, that makes no sense. Tell me what's going on. Please."

"Commander, please listen to me. You have a concussion and your entire body has had pretty major trauma. You need to rest and let yourself heal. I feel certain that your memory will clear," she began. "Be patient for—"

"Look," he began again, his voice quieter. "I know I'm not firing on all cylinders right now. I get it, but I still recognize evasive tactics when I hear them. I just want to know what the hell is going on. If you won't talk, get me Chin Ho. Or better yet, get my father. Where is he?"

Dr. Palakiko stared at him and sighed before giving in. "All right. Let me make some calls," she finally agreed. "But only on a couple of conditions."

"What?"

"You allow Anita to give you a muscle relaxant and something for the pain – don't argue," she added, pointing her finger at him when he opened his mouth. "And you need to eat something. Rumor has it you didn't touch the lunch tray."

He grimaced at the thought of hospital food. "I'll try," he whispered.

"Good. I'll be back."

_And when you do, I better get some answers._

_~~~H50~~~_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 8**_

"Look, I know you have better things to do," Steve spoke to Anita. "I swear I'm just not hungry."

"Granted, this isn't my job," the nurse agreed, while continuing to patiently hold a spoonful of broth above the bowl. "But you told Dr. P you would try to eat. You didn't touch lunch and now the dinner tray is still setting here. Open up. Or you'll get to see my unpleasant side."

"I can't even look at that," he admitted, swallowing convulsively. "Besides, it's cold." Did that sound like a whine? Maybe he could play the pity card.

"I'm not asking you to look at it, I'm asking you to eat at least a spoonful."

She was heartless. And showed no mercy. Having no other recourse, he opened his mouth and she quickly poured it in. "Swallow." She watched as he did so and added, "See, not so bad."

Even with one eye bandaged, he managed to pull off a scathing glare. But he was saved from more "soup" by Dr. Palakiko's return. Followed by Chin Ho and the two other people he remembered from that morning.

"Good, you're eating," the doctor exclaimed.

Anita chuckled, spooning up more of the broth. "No, just one bite and I'm sure that was only for your benefit," she replied, moving the spoon toward him.

He shrank back onto the pillow and shook his head.

"How about this?" his female visitor asked, moving to the side of the bed. She held out a clear plastic cup and smiled at him. "Mango- ginseng smoothie. Bet it's better than the soup. And Doc gave her OK for it."

Steve looked at her and gratefully took the drink. "Thanks, uh…" He glanced at Chin, unsure what to say.

"Kono," Chin supplied. "My cousin."

"Got it. Thanks, Kono." He saluted her with the drink.

"No worries, Bo-… Commander."

"Drink up," Palakiko told him. "The fluids will be good for you."

"Since you don't remember me either, I'm Danny," the short one added.

Steve nodded at him. "Sorry, man. Thought you were the doctor." He waved a hand in Danny's direction. "You were wearing scrubs the last time."

Danny grinned and rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, the last time I was here, they had stolen my clothes."

Anita took the dinner tray and quietly left the room while Palakiko took her place next to the bed. "How's the headache?"

"I can manage it. No more drugs," he ordered, taking a sip of the drink.

"For now," the doctor agreed. "We'll talk about it later. Commander," she paused, collecting her thoughts. "I understand you want to know why you are in Hawaii, and although I'm quite certain your lapse in memory will clear up, I have agreed to this discussion. But, I want to go on record and state that I don't think this is a good idea."

"And you're not the one who has apparently lost a couple of months of his life."

"I know. And I understand," she quietly replied.

"But you're gonna have to talk louder."

She nodded, and looked at Chin. "Would you mind closing the door? No need for the entire floor to hear us. Now, Steve, tell me again, what is the last thing you clearly remember?"

He sighed, thinking about his reply. "My team entered a building that had been rigged to blow. After that, I vaguely remember hearing a chopper, then nothing."

"And when was that?"

"Early May. So, what's today's date?"

Palakiko glanced at the team and received a nod from Chin to continue. She reached for her iPad, opening it to her homepage.

She moved closer to the bed, holding the iPad to her chest. "I know your eyesight is blurry, but I want you to see today's date for yourself." She turned the pad toward him and pointed at the numbers. "Can you read that?"

He squinted, then read "March 16… 2011." He read the date once again and then looked at her. "Not possible."

She nodded. "Yes, it is. That is today."

"You're telling me," he looked from her to the three people behind her, his voice increasing in panic, "that I've been unconscious for almost a _**year**_?"

"No, no, of course not," she hastily replied. "Calm down and breathe. You have been conscious, but you have had another accident and your mind doesn't remember the last ten or so months."

"Why not?" he demanded, his voice still loud.

"The easiest answer is repeated trauma," she told him. "I did a little digging and got copies of your medical files."

"That's classified."

"And I'm a Captain in the U.S. Army with fairly decent clearance when it comes to necessary files on my patients," she retorted. "In May of 2010, you were indeed in an explosion. The report says you were airlifted to Germany with multiple injuries, a moderate concussion being one of them. You spent three weeks in the hospital before returning to your unit."

"Why don't I remember that?" He reached up his hand and covered his aching forehead, before sighing. "So, what happened next?" he quietly asked.

She turned to Chin. "Detective Kelly. Can you help me out?"

Chin Ho nodded, taking a deep breath. He glanced at his other two team members before beginning. "I don't know where you were in May of last year and unfortunately, we can't fill in any details until September. But I do know that in September of last year, you were in South Korea tracking Anton Hesse."

McGarrett frowned, attempting to remember. "Anton and Victor. How do you know about that mission? I know it's still classified."

"Because it ended here in Hawaii," Chin told him. "While we don't have your military record, I can tell you the events that we know. That is… unless you are willing to wait for your memory to return."

Steve shook his head, closing his eyes at the dizziness the movement brought. "Tell me."

"You caught up with Anton and had him in custody. But apparently it was a set up. You received a phone call from Victor here in Hawaii—"

"Victor?" Steve jerked back up off the pillow, staring at Chin once again before laying back and biting back a groan. "How the hell did he get my SAT line? Wait…" He paused for a moment processing what had been said, then looked at Chin. "My dad. Where's my dad? Why hasn't he been here?"

"Commander, I wish you would reconsi—"

"Chin Ho, where's my father?"

The detective bit his lower lip before continuing. "Victor locked in on your phone and fired a missile. In the ensuing firefight, Anton was killed. Victor… well, he reciprocated."

McGarrett stared at his father's partner before dropping his eyes to stare at the cup he still held in his hand. He focused on the cup, silent, the muscle in his jaw rigid.

"OK, I think that's enough," Dr. Palakiko quietly spoke.

Her voice brought him out of his reverie. "No. That doesn't explain anything about why I'm here. Now. And why I'm in the hospital."

"Maybe I can help out there," Williams began, bailing out Chin who looked about as miserable as McGarrett. "Steve, you came back to Hawaii… after the attack. The governor, who was a friend of your father's, offered you the chance to find Victor and bring him to justice. She gave you cart blanche. Full immunity and means to carry out the job. You took it."

Steve slowly shook his head. "Why would I do that?" he whispered. "I'm a SEAL. Not a cop."

Danny grinned. "You're right. You are a SEAL. But I beg to differ with you. In addition to being a SEAL, on most days, you're a damn good cop. Now bear in mind, I would never admit that fact if you didn't have memory problems."

Chin pulled the badge off his belt and held it out. "Steve, does this mean anything to you?"

McGarrett glanced up at him, and then reached for the badge, rubbing his thumb over its surface. "Five-0. It was my jersey number. My dad told us—"

Chin tapped the badge in Steve's hand. "_**We**_ are Five-0." He pointed to each of them. "The four of us. After the governor hired you, you pulled us all together. We began our work last September and have helped rid our homeland of a lot of unsavory characters."

"Including Victor Hesse," Danny added. "He's in Halawa and will be for a long time."

"And we put him there," Kono spoke.

"I really don't understand," Steve admitted, quickly handing the badge back to Chin as of the metal burned his skin. "This makes no sense."

"You chose the three of us to be your team, Steve. And, if I do say so myself, we work well together," Danny told him.

"But I don't _**know**_ you," the commander bit out, anger and frustration warring with the sadness in his voice. "I can't work with anyone I don't know. That's not a team. And I don't belong here… anymore."

"This time, I insist," the doctor told them. "Everyone needs to leave. Give him some breathing room."

Steve sighed and turned his 'good' ear into the pillow. "Yeah. I… don't want… just go." He placed one arm over his eyes and didn't look at them when they filed out of the room.

Palakiko took hold of his wrist and tugged his arm away from his face and leaned down so that he had to acknowledge her presence. She asked him quietly, "Do you have any questions?"

She barely heard the whispered "no". "Go," he begged.

"I'll check back in later."

"Don't," he told her, closing his eyes.

She patted his leg as she moved toward the door. "I'll be back. If you need anything, be sure to let Anita know."

~~~H50~~~

A few minutes later, he stirred from his dark thoughts when someone entered the room.

"Sorry," Anita said. "Didn't mean to wake you." She held up a plastic ziplock bag for him to see. "We've had your personal effects locked up in the desk, but I thought you might want them in here. Looks like your wallet, phone and keys." She opened the drawer in the bedside table and placed the items inside.

"Is… is there a badge in there?"

"Um… yes, here it is."

"Can I see it?"

"Certainly." She pulled it out of the bag and handed it to him before closing the drawer.

He looked at the gold metal badge in his hand, once again rubbing his thumb over the lettering, willing his stubborn brain to remember.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked, preparing to leave.

"Huh? Uh, no, thanks."

~~~H50~~~

"Hey," Dr. Palakiko called quietly, seeing her patient awake, staring at the ceiling. "I'm leaving at ten, and just wondered if I can get you anything before I go."

McGarrett looked at her, and then glanced away. "No."

She noticed the badge he still held in his hand. "You've had quite a shock today. Do you have any questions for me?"

A slight shake of his head was all she got in return.

"I wish you would reconsider and take something for pain. I don't want to force you, but I know you need it."

He huffed out a breath, still not looking at her. "Somehow… this time I don't think you have anything quite strong enough," he admitted. "Besides, when I asked you for something earlier, you said no."

She clasped her fingers around his wrist and checked his pulse. "And what did you ask me?"

"To get rid of that damn tube."

She opened her iPad and recorded his pulse readings, then glanced down at the bag attached to the side of the bed. "Maybe tomorrow," she offered, after checking the progress from the tube's output and recording that as well.

"Look," he tried once more, finally turning his head and making eye contact with her. "I've had those tubes in there before and this one really hurts. I'm telling you, something's wrong and it needs to come out. I swear I'll pee in a jar or whatever you want, just please take it out."

She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes. "Do you try to get on my last nerve?"

"Is it working?"

She sighed and opened her eyes. "I suppose so." Crossing the room, she pulled plastic gloves from the box near the sink. "And once again, this is against my better judgment," she told him before flipping the blanket down. "And it's gonna hurt you more than it does me!"

~~~H50~~~

The ringing of his telephone roused Danny from a sound sleep. Eyes still closed, he reached for the offending piece of equipment, felt around with his thumb for the "talk" button and held it to his ear. "Williams."

"So help me, if you had anything to do with this, I will personally come over there and rip you a new one."

"Who the hell is this and why are you yelling at me?"

"This is Elaine Palakiko, and your partner has disappeared."

~~~H50~~~


	9. Chapter 9

**_Ho'okahi, Chapter 9_**

Danny sat up on the side of his pull-out couch. "What do you mean, 'he's disappeared'?" He reached for his pants, holding the phone beneath his chin. "How the hell did you manage to lose him?" he yelled back at the doctor.

"I'm on my way to the hospital to find out," she admitted. "He was there at midnight for the nurse's check, but was gone at two. They searched. He's not there."

"OK, I'll send Chin to the hospital. There are security cameras, aren't there?"

"Yes, on the entrances. I didn't think of that. I knew I shouldn't have trusted him."

"How so?" Williams asked, standing and pulling up his pants.

"He conned me into taking out the catheter."

"Sounds like a typical McGarrett move. How did he even make it out of there on that leg?"

"Not easily, I can tell you that. And he hasn't had any pain meds since earlier in the afternoon. All right, I'm pulling in the parking lot. Sorry I yelled."

"I'll start looking for him and bring him back," Danny told her. "I'll call you when I find him."

~~~H50~~~

The house was dark, but Danny was banking on the fact that Steve came home, so he inserted his key into the lock and pushed open the front door. Before he could register alarm, he was roughly grabbed and shoved face-first against the front wall, his own gun yanked out of the holster and jammed into the base of his skull.

"Hey, McGarrett, you moron. It's me."

Then he realized Steve didn't remember him. "It's me, Danny. Take it easy, man. Geez, my ribs still hurt."

Instead of backing off, the pressure on his body increased when Steve slumped against him. But the weapon was lowered.

Danny heard the ragged breathing in his ear and tried to shimmy out from the other man. "Hey, you OK?" he asked, pulling his Heckler & Koch from his friend's hand and placing it back in the holster.

McGarrett propped his hand against the wall, dropping his head on his outstretched arm, breathing heavily. "How…how'd you get a key to this house?" he finally managed to ask between gulps of air. He had tried for a menacing tone, but even to his own ears, he sounded pretty pitiful.

Williams closed the front door and turned on the light, getting his first close look at Steve, not liking at all what he saw. "We're partners. You gave it to me," he calmly replied, reaching out to grasp McGarrett's arm. "Come on, sit down before you fall down."

Steve pushed off from the wall and jerked away from Danny's hand, limping across the room holding onto every piece of furniture he passed. "Can't sit," he mumbled. "Might not get back up." Holding onto the wall, he turned and disappeared around the corner into the dining room, not stopping until he reached the kitchen.

Danny took off after him. "Hey! Where you going? Sit down, you idiot. And I must say, my compliments to your tailor."

He flipped on the kitchen light and took a closer look his partner who covered his eyes from the sudden light. "Jeez, McGarrett, where **_did_** you get those clothes?"

Steve leaned against the kitchen counter propped on his elbows, his head bowed down, easing some of the weight off his injured leg. He was sweating, breathing heavily and had trouble even speaking. "Down the hall… man in hospital. Looked like he… wasn't gonna use them for a while."

"You are unbelievable," Danny said, with a shake of his head. He took in how Steve was shaky, pale and sweating, panting instead of breathing. "OK, I insist. We are going back in there and you are going to lie down. No arguments."

"No," Steve shook his head, and then winced as the movement ratcheted his headache a couple of notches. "M' good." To him, the lie sounded convincing enough.

Danny thought otherwise.

"In what universe could you be considered 'good'?" he yelled, watching as the other man winced. "Now, stop arguing with me." He tugged and grabbed Steve's arm, wrapping it around his own shoulder. "How you even got here is beyond me."

"Taxi. Whoa…" He listed to the side and leaned heavily on Danny, swallowing convulsively. "Room's spinning."

"No doubt."

Danny took as much of his weight as he could and forced Steve into a slow walk back to the living room, both of them limping on gimpy legs. He had one hand tightly holding onto Steve's wrist, the other, grasping the back of his pants, prepared to drag the taller man, if necessary. "I can't believe any upstanding taxi driver would pick up something that looked like the cat dragged in. Or hacked up like an ugly hairball. Especially in front of the hospital. What was he thinking? And how the heck did you pay the cab fare?" he asked, continuing with his rant. "Certainly not on your good looks because right now, with all your purple bruises my friend, you could pass for Barney, the idiot dinosaur!"

"Nurse… gave me wallet and phone. And house key. And this." Steve reached his hand into his pants pocket and pulled out his badge for Danny to see.

They finally reached the couch and Danny turned them around so they both could sit. A very uncoordinated move, but he managed to get his partner down on the sofa. He lifted Steve's arm and scooted out from under him before Steve melted into the back of the couch. He stood up and then told him, "Be right back." When he returned, he carried a couple of pillows and blanket, holding his phone in the other hand. He dropped one pillow on the end of the sofa and spoke into the phone. "Chin, I've got 'im. Like I suspected, he came home."

"_Spotted him limping out the front door on the video feed. Tell me, what the heck is he wearing?"_

Danny laughed. "I'm guessing your video feed is black and white. You should see this butt-ugly shirt in living color. The yellow and brown plaid really sets off the nice hue of the pea green work pants. And it all blends together into one, colorful McGarrett bruise."

"Ow!"

"_Danny? What's wrong?" _

Danny whipped around and glared at McGarrett. "Mr. Personality just threw a pillow at my head."

"_Hey, the doc is here and I think she wants to talk to you."_

"Joy."

"_What was that?" _Dr. Palakiko retorted.

"Nothing, Doc. I found your wayward patient."

"_How bad does he look?"_

"Well, it's not pretty, and he's totally exhausted, but other than that, about the same. There's some blood on the bandage on his arm. Can't see what his leg looks like, but he's managing to hobble around on it."

"_You can tell him that yesterday's explosion was nothing compared to the one he'll be hit with when he next sees me." _

"I, ah, OK. What do you want me to do?"

"_Just keep him immobile if you can. It's late, so I'll check him out in the morning. If he's not dying at the moment, I can't see any reason to haul him back here right tonight. Make him rest and call me if anything happens."_

"I can do that. See you later. And tell Chin I said thanks." He disconnected his call and picked up the pillow from the floor, fluffing it before tossing it back onto the couch.

"Where'd you get those?"

"The pillows? Hall closet. Like always."

Steve glanced around the dimly-lit room. "Seems you know more about this house than I do."

"You'll unlock your brain soon. Speaking of, Doc says stay put and she'll see you later in the morning. If you have any flame retardant clothing, I would suggest you wear them because she sounds like she might peel the hide right off your bones."

"Pissed?" Steve sighed, once again leaning back against the couch, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"Oh, yeah."

"I couldn't stay there," Steve tried to explain, letting his arm drop tiredly back down to his side. "Nothing… seems real. I can't..." He glanced up at Danny and shrugged. "Can't explain it."

"Come on, give yourself some time," Danny warned, helping Steve turn to lie down so that his head was on the pillow. He took the other pillow and placed it beneath his partner's leg. "You were blown up less than 48 hours ago. Your head has a reason to be wonky this time."

Steve squinted to get a better look at Danny through his fuzzy eyesight. "Were you there, too?" He pointed to the cuts on Danny's face and neck. "Noticed you limping earlier."

"We were all there, and we'll all be fine."

"So everyone tells me."

"Hey. Trust us."

"Sorry. Easier said than done," Steve admitted. He reached up to rub his eye before his wrist was snared by Danny's hand.

"Where is that bandage?" Danny asked. "I've never seen eyes so bloodshot. No rubbing."

"I took it off because I wanted to look at something, but… "

"But… what?"

"Nothing." He sighed and closed his eyes in exhaustion. "It can wait."

Danny covered his partner with the blanket and watched as the injured man opened his eyes once again to stare blearily at him.

"Why?"

"Why, what?" Danny asked, shrugging his shoulders.

"Why'd you come?"

"Why did I come? Just because, you dimwit. Because you are my partner. And that's what partners do. Now go to sleep."

Danny barely heard the whispered words, "Never had a partner."

He watched as Steve's breathing evened out. "Well, you do now." He checked to ensure the doors were locked before settling down in a chair beside the sofa and trying to get some rest.

~~~H50~~~

Danny spent the remaining hours of the night lounging in the chair. Not the best few hours of sleep he ever had, but certainly not the worst. He woke periodically, assuring himself that McGarrett hadn't escaped again and that he was still breathing. The sky's deep purple hue was changing to the pink of dawn when he was awakened by a pain-filled grunt.

"Steven? You awake?"

He got out of his chair and moved to his partner who was gasping and struggling to sit up on the couch.

"Hey, what's up? What can I do?"

Steve was gritting his teeth, squeezing his leg above his knee in a vice grip. Finally, he managed to grunt out the word, "Cramp" while breathing through his clenched teeth.

"OK, let me try to help," Danny offered before Steve got a good look at his surroundings.

The injured man startled and glanced wildly around him. "Where-?"

Danny placed his hand on Steve's shoulder. "Hey, you're home – remember? You're OK." He looked closely at his partner. "Remember, you went AWOL from the hospital last night and I got elected to come find you and return you to Dr. Palakiko."

Steve slowly breathed out and nodded. "But you didn't."

"Doc said she would come see you today instead. But that doesn't mean she won't haul your ass back there."

Steve continued to grasp his leg while shaking his head. "Not going." He rocked forward, trying to massage out the cramp.

"Here," Danny offered. "Let me help." He used his fingers to knead the bunched up muscles in the injured leg, trying to relieve the Charlie horse.

"Why are you still here?"

Danny glanced at Steve while continuing his work. "We discussed this last night, but you must have forgotten. I am here, Steve, because I am your partner and that is what partners do."

Steve sighed and eased back down on the pillow when the muscles began to relax. "If you say so. But you must hate it, so why bother?"

"What do you mean, 'I must hate it'?" Danny asked. "Of course I don't hate it."

"Sounds like you don't like me much," Steve muttered, closing his eyes.

Danny continued to knead the cramped muscle. "What the hell are you talking about now?"

"You. Us. Partners," Steve tried to explain. "We must not be a very effective partnership if your favorite word for me is 'moron'."

Danny stopped working on the leg and stared at him in confusion before a small smile crept out. "Steven. Look at me."

Steve slowly opened his eyes, blinked, and then grimaced. "There's three of you, which one do I pick?"

Williams' smile widened and he shook his head. "Listen, I'm sorry, I just didn't think. I'm treating you like I have always treated you, and right now… for a minute space in time," he hastened to mention, "things aren't the same. **_You _**aren't the same. But you need to understand," he added, pointing to himself. "I'm from Jersey, and pretty much, what you see is what you get." He grinned with pride. "We can be a rude bunch of people, but I swear, if I didn't like you, you would know it. I wouldn't bother yelling at you **_or_** calling you names." With a smirk, he added, "Just look at it this way. 'Moron' is a term of endearment. Come on, man, we're friends. In fact, you were my first real friend on this island."

Steve continued to watch him, and while he wanted to, he wasn't sure whether to believe the man or not.

Danny stopped his massage. "How's that feel?" he asked as he stood.

"Better. Thanks."

"Look, I know none of this seems real to you. Wish there was some way to help, but once your brain decides to cooperate, it will all make sense. **_We_** will make sense."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Well, Mr. Positive, can we just give your noggin a chance to heal itself before we go all gloom and doom? Just hang in there."

Steve placed his arm across his eyes and blocked out both Danny and the room. "Whatever."

"I found some Tylenol in the kitchen last night," Danny told him while carefully stretching his own sore muscles. "I'm going to take a couple. How about you?"

"Nah, I'm good now that the cramp is gone."

"Sure you are. Silly of me to think that a building falling on you might hurt," he muttered while padding on bare feet into the kitchen. He took two bottles of water from the fridge and snared the bottle of pills from the counter. As he did so, he knocked against the laptop, causing it to wake up. The screen showed a square box with the words "invalid password" written in red.

"Hmm," Danny mumbled, closing the computer and tucking it under his arm, taking it into the living room as well. He set down his items and left once more, snaring another pillow. Once he returned, he looked at his partner, knowing by the hitch in his breathing that the man wasn't asleep.

"You awake?" he asked.

It took a couple of beats before Steve replied with a muttered "Yeah."

"Then sit up some. I've got you another pillow."

"No, I'm—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, 'you're good', but sit up anyway. Do you need help?"

Steve huffed and bit out, "No, I can do it myself."

"Then get a move on."

Steve stifled the groan and finally managed to sit up, grasping the back of the couch and dropping his right leg to the floor for balance. Danny stuffed a second pillow behind him and bunched them up so he was propped up when he laid back.

"How's that?" Danny asked.

McGarrett breathed out through his mouth. "Give me a minute for the room to slow down." After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and blinked. "OK, better."

Danny handed him an opened bottle of water and shook three Tylenol into Steve's palm. "Take them," Danny ordered, pouring out three more for himself. Danny swallowed his own and watched Steve.

"And no funny business, like hiding them under your tongue. Swallow them."

"Yes, Dr. …" Steve had the pills halfway to his mouth when he paused, a stricken look on his face. He dropped his hand and glanced at Danny, admitting, "I don't even know your last name."

"It's Williams. Right now, it's **_Dr. Danny Williams_**, so take your pills."

"Thanks, Danno." Steve washed the Tylenol down with a couple gulps of water, then glanced at Danny who was staring at him, a goofy grin on his face.

Steve frowned. "What? Now what's wrong?"

Danny shook his head. "Nothing. Do you realize what you just said?"

"Uh… no? I said, 'thanks, Danny'. What's wrong with that?"

"You said 'Danno', not 'Danny'."

"Well… OK, sorry."

Danny's grin got wider. "No, you're not. You never are. Trust me." He shook his finger in his partner's direction. "That brain is working. Just give it some time and things will come back to you. Think you can go back to sleep?"

Steve leaned into the pillows. "Not really." He glanced outside, noticing the early morning sunlight beginning to make its presence known. "Used to getting up early."

"Yeah, I know," Danny agreed. "Hey, I brought the computer in. Noticed you had it on last night. Any reason?"

"No," Steve replied, a bit too quickly. He glanced at the look of disbelief on Danny's face and said, "I saw the computer on the counter and wanted to check something, but… I couldn't remember the password," he finally admitted.

"What did you want to look up?"

Steve closed his eyes, ignoring him. "It's not important."

"Really?" Danny asked. "Must have been important last night. Bet you twenty that I can crack your password."

Steve rolled his head on the pillow and stared at his so-called partner. "Not possible. It won't be anything obvious, I can assure you."

"So, you take my bet?"

"Damn right."

Danny picked up the computer and set it on the coffee table, pulling the table closer to the couch. He moved down toward Steve's feet and said, "Scoot. Make room for me." He perched on the edge of the sofa and laced his fingers together, stretching his arms in front of him. "OK, let's fire this baby up. Now… password." He began typing and spoke the word, "SuperSeal".

McGarrett chuckled. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope, that's not it," Williams said. "How about, "SexyEyes."

Steve stared at him once again. "Say what?"

"It's a song. A really, really bad one, but a song, nonetheless."

"I know what it is. Why the hell do you think it would possibly be my password?"

"All I know is that you happen to think it's catchy. But don't worry, it didn't work."

"Trust me, I could have told you that."

"Bossman," he muttered. "No, that's not it, either. OK, here's one. How about 'Uncle Steve'."

"Why would I be 'uncle' anybody? Mary doesn't have any kids." He paused a beat then lifted his head off the pillow, panic mixing with the grimace on his face. "My sister **_doesn't_** have any kids, does she?"

"No, she doesn't. But you happen to be 'Uncle Steve' to the most adorable little girl on the entire planet." He reached for his phone and hit the screen to light it up. Turning it toward his partner, he explained, "My daughter, Grace. For some reason that I can't quite fathom, she thinks you hung the moon."

Steve reached for the phone and held it close to his eyes. "Cute," he acknowledged. "But I don't do well with kids."

"So I noticed. But, like I said, this one happens to like you. There is no accounting for taste."

"You're married, then?" Steve asked.

Danny made a face. "Nope. Divorced." He pointed to the phone still in Steve's hand. "Gracie's the reason I came to this hell-hole in the first place. Her mom and step dad, not-so-fondly known as 'Step Stan', moved out here and three months later, I followed. I couldn't stand not being with her. And while Hawaii is not home, I would do it all over again, just to be with her."

Steve nodded, in thought. He still didn't 'know' this man, but he knew enough to realize Danny was dedicated and would fight for what was important to him. Steve wasn't sure where he fit in that scheme of things, but it looked like this 'partner' of his wasn't one who gave up easily.

"Good luck on that password," Steve said, handing back the cell phone. "You're not going to guess what it is. And you'll probably crash the computer after a few more tries."

Danny thought again and began typing another word. "74Marquis," he muttered and watched the screen blink before accepting the password. He pumped his fist into the air. "YES! Got it."

Steve reached a hand up and held it over his ear, wincing at the sound. "You don't have to yell. What's the password?"

"74Marquis. And if I don't yell, you can't hear me."

"What'd you say?"

Danny glanced at his partner and found a smirk on the other man's face. "You heard me. And you owe me twenty."

"Oh. Well, you see, I had to pay the taxi last night, so I'm sort of light on cash right now."

"Good to know some things never change," Danny mumbled. "But on the positive side, that **_is_** good news. Your short term memory is intact if you can remember the taxi trip home." He pointed to the computer. "So, tell me what you wanted to look up."

"It's probably stupid," Steve replied, glancing first at the computer screen and then at Danny, an almost wistful expression on his face.

"Hey, you went to a lot of trouble to get home," Danny told him. "And I went to a lot of trouble getting the password. So don't shut me out. Now, come on, what do you want to look up?"

"Are there any news articles about… my dad? Or about Five 0? I… I need some sort of validation. Some way to know who we are… who **_I _**am. And I need to read what happened. You, uh, know… about everything."

Danny stared at his partner, seeing past the physical pain that was etched on his face, and looked deeper. He knew Steve hadn't really taken the time to grieve over the loss of his father and realized that for better or worse, in order to heal, that had to happen. He set aside the computer and got comfortable next to Steve, leaning back against Steve's feet and propping his own on the coffee table. "You can search for and read the articles for yourself when you can see again. But, ask me and I swear I'll tell you whatever you want to know. Come on, ask away."

Steve hesitated, and then decided "For starters, I guess, how'd we end up as partners? How did this team begin? Tell me about Five-0."

"Well, let me preface this by saying that the first couple of times I met you, I really hated you. Totally. And I had no intention of **_ever_** working with you."

"What changed your mind?"

"What, you ask? Well, let me tell you." Danny's hands began punctuating the air with each sentence that came from his mouth. "You came to my apartment and shanghaied me. That's what happened… First thing you did was steal my crime scene. Standing right there in the garage, you called the governor, stole my crime scene, and then the next day, you showed up at my apartment, banging on the door, standing in the pouring rain and **_told_** me… not 'asked me politely', but told me, that I would, as of that moment, be working with you… And I'm telling you, things went downhill from there… Did I mention that you got me shot that first day?..."

~~~H50~~~


	10. Chapter 10

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 10**_

Danny was once again dozing in the chair when his cell phone pinged. He glanced at the text screen and then looked at the man sound asleep on the couch. He stood and stretched, then moved to the front door, opening it just as Chin stepped onto the small porch.

Chin entered and immediately glanced at his friend on the couch. "Coffee and Coco puffs," he whispered, holding up a bakery box.

"Bless you, my child," Danny whispered back.

"How goes it?"

They walked through the living room and on into the kitchen before Danny spoke. "He slept most of the night. And honestly, he probably slept better than he would have in the hospital. Woke up around six and I got him to take some Tylenol." Danny took a sip of the hot coffee and sighed, reaching into the now opened Coco puff box for a pastry.

"That's a miracle in itself," Chin replied. "And he's been asleep since then? It's almost ten o'clock!"

"We talked for maybe an hour. He asked about Five-0 and I tried to fill him in. He-ah-he also had questions about his dad. Chin, he's going to have to deal with all that happened. I think it has just been festering in the back of his mind for the past several months. He's never really faced the fact that Victor killed his dad."

"I agree. But we need to get him back, whole again. So whatever it takes, we'll be here."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, and who knows what it's gonna take."

"Doc Palakiko is coming over soon to check him out. She's going to call me when she's on her way. And a word of warning, she's still pretty angry at him."

"Chin, I don't know how he even did it. Got out of the hospital, I mean. I swear, when I got here, he was shaking, white as a ghost and pretty much dead on his feet. But even with that, he managed to slam me up against the front door when I got here."

"In fight or flight mode?"

"Yeah, only when he finally realized I wasn't the enemy, he just deflated. It was all I could do to keep him upright."

The phone in Chin's hand vibrated and he answered. "Hey, Doc. Good. I'll meet you outside."

He disconnected the call, saying, "She's down the street. And I'd like to go on record and say that this exam will not go well."

"No arguments here," Danny agreed.

~~~H50~~~

Danny held open the door while Chin helped Dr. Palakiko inside. Between them, they carried two big, black canvas bags, her computer case and a pair of crutches. She immediately dropped her supplies and walked to the couch to stare at her wayward patient.

"Looks like the eye patch was pretty much useless," she mumbled to the room in general. She looked up and glanced at Danny. "Anything else new since we talked? How was he last night?"

"Believe it or not, he slept most of the night," Danny began. "He woke up around six with a Charlie horse in his leg. Once we took care of that, I gave him some Tylenol and he went back to sleep, maybe around seven or seven thirty. Been sleeping since then."

"How was his mental state when he was awake?" the doctor asked.

"He _**can**_ hear you, ya know," Steve mumbled from the couch.

"All right, then," she turned toward him and grinned, sitting down on the coffee table and waiting for him to open his eyes. "Maybe 'he' will answer me. What's going on with you?"

He was thrown off by her question. "Uh, I'm good."

"Great," she replied, opening one of her bags and removing a thermometer. "That really eases my mind," she said while rolling the instrument across his forehead to check his temp. "Just like last night when I learned that one of my patients was missing in action." She placed the thermometer back into the bag and looked around, seeing the steps leading upstairs. "So, is there a bedroom on this floor?"

"No, but I'm good here on—"

"OK, let me make this clear," she interrupted him, her index finger pointing in his direction. "You listen to what I say and follow it to the letter, or we go back to the hospital. No passing 'go'; no collecting $200. And once there, I will personally tie you to the bed. Do you understand?"

He glanced at Danny and Chin who were standing behind her and muttered, "You weren't kidding, were you?"

His partner made a face and shook his head, not willing to get himself on her bad side as well.

"I have no clue what that is about," Dr. P. said, then repeated, "I want your word that I will have your cooperation."

"Yeah."

"And no funny business. Got it?"

He nodded but didn't speak, watching as she pulled a stethoscope from her bag, inserted it into her ears and listened to his chest.

"Did you hear him cough any last night?" she asked Danny.

"A couple of times. But he never woke up."

"That's good," she commented, then stood up. "OK, let's get you sitting up. I need to get you out of these clothes and into bed." She waved her hand in Danny and Chin's direction. "Get your minds out of the gutter, boys – you know that's not what I meant," she said after hearing Danny's snicker. "I need to see first-hand what damage you've done to yourself."

Chin grinned with her. "What can we do to help?"

She looked at her options. "Well, you can hold his leg steady and Danny, if you could, grab the pillows out when I pull him up. We'll sit here for a while before we try walking."

"I can get up by myself," Steve told her, aggravated with her take charge attitude.

"Maybe," she agreed, "but it will take you longer to do so. I want you to breathe through the dizziness and let me do the work." She placed one arm beneath his neck and grabbed his hand with her other hand. "Here we go, on three. One, two, three…"

Steve sucked in his breath when she tugged him upward, but then forgot to let it out. His eyes were closed but he saw stars in the blackness and finally heard her voice coaxing him back. "Breathe, Commander. Come on." He felt a cold rag on his neck and realized he was sitting upright on the couch.

"Dizzy," he managed to whisper.

"Apparently," she replied, her voice in his ear. "We lost you there for a couple of minutes."

He opened one eye to see the doctor sitting next to him, propping him up. His injured leg was settled on a pillow on top of the coffee table. He didn't remember putting it there.

"Have you had anything to eat since you left the hospital?"

"Don't think so," he mumbled.

"Not unless the cab driver went through the drive through last night," Danny added.

"OK, you need—"

Steve held up his hand for her to stop. "If you start talking about food, I guarantee the results won't be pretty," he warned her.

She nodded. "Then I'm done. Thanks for the warning. Chin, could you hand me the crutches, please?" She made sure Steve could sit up on his own and stood, taking the crutches, and leaned them against the couch. "I assume from reading your file that you know how to use these. They will be part of your ensemble for the foreseeable future. But first, let me go check out the situation upstairs."

"I'll take you," Danny offered.

Chin sat next to Steve when the others went upstairs. "You doing OK, Brah?"

Steve sighed, his eyes still closed. "Been better," he admitted. "How can all this… be right, when it feels so wrong?" He opened his eyes and looked at the one person he did remember. "I'm… I feel lost."

"You have had a pretty hectic and stressful year, that's for sure."

"So my brain decided to go on strike?"

Danny and the doctor walked down the steps in time to hear his comment and she replied, "Not on strike, Commander. But it has been repeatedly injured and it is telling you that it needs time to heal. Without a lot of outside stimuli."

"So now I'm a prisoner in this house?"

"Not at all." She pointed to Danny and Chin. "You need your friends here, but you don't need a lot of activity. Keep it low key," she told all of them. "Now, do you think you can stand?"

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Guess we'll find out."

"Gentlemen, could you do the honors?" she asked, nodding to Danny and Chin to help him up. Once on his feet, he stood there, eyes closed, breathing through his mouth while she put the crutches under his arms. "You got them?" she asked.

Steve opened his eyes and glanced up, giving her a slight nod of his head. Chin pushed back the coffee table to give him room to turn around.

"OK, we'll take it slow," Palakiko told him. "We can stop and rest whenever you want. Guys, can you spot us? And bring my bags, please."

With a shuffling gait, he made it to the stairs and grabbed the rail, passing the crutches to her. "I've done this before," he assured her, stepping up then bringing his injured leg up.

"Here, at least use one crutch," she told him. "Keep as much weight off that leg as possible." She was behind him and was staring at the baggy pants hanging off his hips. "I hope no one will mind me cutting these butt-ugly pants off you," she muttered.

"Well, I certainly won't," Danny replied, "but the man they belong to may not appreciate it."

"I'll make sure Mr. Hwang gets something better to wear," she replied as Steve reached the small landing and turned to head up the rest of the steps. "Compliments of Commander McGarrett."

"I couldn't leave wearing that short, tacky gown," Steve replied.

"Ahh! See… that's where we differ in opinions," she said, lightly laying her hand against his back for support. "Because in my book, my patients don't just up and leave in the middle of the night without my permission!"

All of his effort was on placing his feet on the steps, so she received no retort, snarky or otherwise. By the time they were upstairs, sweat was dripping in his eyes from the exertion. He stopped at the top of the stairs, head bowed and breathing heavily as he accepted the second crutch from her.

"Not much farther," she encouraged, as he took a hobbling step down the short hall.

Danny moved ahead and pushed the door to Steve's bedroom open wide.

He glanced up and saw where they were headed. "Not that one," Steve told them, stopping in the hall. "That's my dad—" He stopped and looked into the room.

"Steve, it's your room now," Danny assured him.

He looked in and saw the slatted, wooden bed before glancing at the rest of the room. "Dad wouldn't get rid of the brass bed they-my parents used to have. Where'd it go?"

"We took it to the attic when you bought this one a few months back," Chin told him, smiling at the memory. "I think the word you used for the brass bed was 'sissy'. It was one of the few things you decided you just couldn't live with."

"Come on," the doctor urged. "This room has the attached bath and you'll need that. Speaking of, have you gone to the bathroom since you conned me into pulling out the catheter last night?"

Steve shook his head.

"Oh, goody. We're going to have more fun than I thought," she said, guiding him with her hand on his arm. "Gentlemen, I think we can take it from here. See you in a bit."

~~~H50~~~


	11. Chapter 11

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 11**_

Dr. Palakiko returned downstairs almost an hour later to find Danny and Chin drinking coffee while reclining in chairs on the lanai.

"Got a cup of that to spare?" she asked.

Chin got up and offered his seat to her. "Have a seat. Coffee's coming right up."

"We didn't hear any shouting," Danny began. "How'd it go?"

She dropped into the chair and leaned back, enjoying the sun on her face. "Relatively well. At least neither of us killed the other. I gave him something for pain and he's asleep for now."

"How badly did he hurt himself last night?" Chin asked, handing her a cup of steaming coffee.

"Not too badly," she admitted, wrapping both hands around the cup and savoring the aroma. "I removed some of the packing in his leg and added a couple of stitches and butterflies to hold it together. His arm had bled some, but no stitches were missing there and all the other various sutures seem intact. The combination of the ear injury and the concussion is causing his dizziness and nausea and that will be worrisome for a while. I would strongly encourage him not to come back downstairs today. And yes, I know he will probably fight you about that. If he feels up to it, he can move around more tomorrow."

"I'll be glad to cuff him to the bedframe," Danny offered.

"Guys, he's pretty freaked about being in his parents' bedroom. He kept looking at the furniture and things on the walls. I could tell he was nervous being there. While I feel certain his memories will return, if it doesn't happen within the next 48 hours, I want him to see someone."

"As in a psychiatrist, someone?" Danny asked.

"I have a psychologist friend I use from time to time," she replied. "He's based out of Tripler and is great dealing with post-traumatic stress. I think he and Steve would get along."

"I know he's seen someone in the past," Danny told her. "But I don't know who."

"Good. If the person is local, I can get the information. He also needs to eat something light. Soup, smoothie, something like that – even if he doesn't want it, he needs to eat. And if he doesn't eat, I'll have to threaten him with an IV."

"Anything else we should look for?" Chin asked.

"Not really, but call me if he starts throwing up or his headache worsens."

"He wouldn't tell us if his head was ready to fall off his shoulders," Danny told her.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she agreed. "Watch his facial features. I doubt he can hide the pain for long. Although," she paused for a sip of coffee, "he is probably the single most stubborn man I have ever treated."

"He would consider that 'determined', not stubborn," Chin told her with a smile.

"And he would also think you had paid him a compliment," Danny added.

"I don't doubt it," she agreed with a smile. "I left a bottle of pain meds and also an antibiotic upstairs next to his bed. I'll call tonight and make sure no one has killed or been killed yet. You guys have a fun job for the next few days. All I ask is that you try to keep him down for at least another 48 hours. Oh, and if he argues to go outside," she pointed upward, "you can open those windows or he can rest on the lanai upstairs. Under no circumstances does he leave the house."

"Yes, ma'am," Danny saluted her. "If he tries, do I have your permission to shoot him in the other leg?"

~~~H50~~~

Steve woke in stages. First, he knew he was somewhere relatively comfortable. He felt almost like he belonged there. Second, he realized he was in very little pain. Which had not been the case since the moment he awoke in the hospital. He lay there, unmoving, eyes closed, debating whether or not he really wanted to wake up.

Third, he realized he was alone, which, while it was a surprise, it was a somewhat pleasant one. He finally opened his eyes and blinked in the sunlight filtering in through the window. The back of the house faced west and pulled in the afternoon sun, so by the sun's rays shining across the bed, he deduced it was afternoon. He held up his left wrist, only to remember that his watch was still in that little baggie he brought home from the hospital. Somewhere.

Steve looked around the bedroom as if seeing it again for the first time. Other than the bed, most everything was how he remembered from when he was a child. After his mom died, his dad changed very little. It appeared he was following in his dad's footsteps.

He tried to remember the past few months that everyone says were missing. From the explosion that he did remember, up until present, he felt his life had been sucked into a huge, black hole. He looked at these people he was supposed to know… and know well, from all indications, and felt nothing. No recognition, no camaraderie. Nothing.

While they made him feel comfortable, the thought that he didn't _**know**_ them made him feel sad. Like he was missing out on something very important.

He could only hope that whatever it was, he got it back.

And he couldn't do that lying in bed. Determined to explore, he managed to scoot to the side of the bed. Rolling onto his side, he propped himself up on his elbow and held his breath, waiting for the dizziness and nausea to pass. The roar in his ear and head was back, louder than he remembered since he had left the hospital. Eyes squeezed shut, he lay there, trying to decide whether to push himself up or simply collapse back onto the bed and forget it.

In the end, he didn't get a vote.

Kono pushed open the door to see her boss propped up on his elbow, looking as if he were ready to topple right off the side of the bed. She quickly entered the room, set down the tray she brought with her and moved to his side. She gently sat down and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Boss. How goes it?"

He managed a grunt in answer. "Come on, where you think you're going, huh? Let's get you comfortable here." She kept a running dialogue with him even though he didn't respond back to her. Kono pushed the pillows up against the headboard and then squeezed his shoulder. "Boss, can you hear me? Scoot up a little bit and we'll get these pillows behind you."

He opened his eyes and glanced at her, then did as he was told, pushing up with his arms.

"That better?"

He rubbed a hand across his forehead and then agreed. "Yeah. This sucks."

"I'm sure it does," she agreed, once again sitting on the bed.

"So, did you draw the short straw?" Steve asked, squinting at her in the sunlight.

She smiled. "Nah. It was my turn. Chin and Danny are at the office going over the case that goes to trial tomorrow. They're sifting through all the details once more before they testify."

"What kind of case?"

"No way, Brah. Doc said no work for you. But I did bring you some lunch. My auntie's famous chicken and rice soup."

He closed his eyes and quickly swallowed. "I don't think I can eat," he told her.

She left the bed and picked up the tray once again. "Come on, you need to eat something. Try a couple spoonfuls. I promise, it's good."

"One bite," he agreed. "On one condition."

"And that is?"

"Sit on this side of the bed so I can hear you better."

Kono smiled and immediately moved to the other side of the bed, setting down the tray while he sat up further in the bed. She set a napkin in his lap and held up a spoon. "You OK doing this by yourself?"

Steve tried to shrug, then grimaced at the movement, but took the spoon from her. But when he glanced down at the bowl, he squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head against the pillows once again. "I'm sorry," he swallowed thickly, "but I don't think I can eat."

She took back the spoon. "That's cool. No worries, we can wait."

He sighed and opened his eyes to stare at her. "So. Chin said you're his cousin."

Kono nodded. "Yep. I've always had a case of hero worship with him. He has taught me so much."

"Tell me, how'd you end up on this task force? I know how Danny and I met, but that's about all."

She faced him, sitting cross legged on the bed and smiled. "It's a cool story," she promised, scooping a spoonful of soup and holding it in front of him. Subconsciously, he opened his mouth as she began to speak. "Well, to be honest, when my day began, I had no idea I would have a job interview. Especially wearing a bikini. When we met, I had just ridden a fantastic wave out on the North Shore, but this stupid haole cut into my path and ruined it." She grinned, spooning up some more soup. "When I reached land, I showed him my displeasure by decking him. Then I looked up and saw Chin on the beach with these two guys… you and Danny. You needed someone unknown to go undercover, so Chin thought of me."

Steve swallowed another spoonful of soup and then asked, "So, what was your background?"

"I was a week from graduating from the academy. After that first undercover job you offered me a place on 5-0." She grinned once again. "I imagine the people I graduated with are pea green with envy. Especially if they're still riding a beat."

"So, do you still go undercover?" he asked.

"Brah, I do it all." She grinned once again and added, "Thank you for never making me feel that I'm not a part of the team. You helped me work on my martial art skills, but I already had a wicked roundhouse kick," she added with a cheeky grin. "My sniper skills are good and I can also kick butt with the computer." With a final scrape of the empty bowl, she offered him one more spoon of soup. "I can assure you I didn't get this job on my looks."

"Never thought you did," he replied, leaning back onto the pillow, suddenly tired.

"You need to drink some water and take your meds before you go back to sleep."

He roused a little and took the bottle. "Don't think I didn't notice you were shoveling food down me," he told her, an embarrassed grin showing.

"Whatever it takes, Brah." She scooted off the bed reached for his meds, handing him the pills. She covertly watched as he took them, then picked up the tray from the bed and walked toward the door. "Get some sleep, Boss."

~~~H50~~~

He awoke sometime later upon hearing the front door shut. By the weak beams of sunlight splaying with the shadows on the wall, he realized it was much later in the afternoon. Steve also realized that nature was calling. That thought brought a blush to his face as he remembered the doctor in the bathroom with him the night before, making a joke about his 'shy bladder'.

Some things just weren't meant to be funny.

He could hear voices downstairs, but he was still alone. Determined to actually get up from the bed this time, he moved to the edge.

So far, so good.

Sitting up worked as well, with just a twinge of dizziness. The buzz saw began again deep in his ear, but he tried to ignore that and focus on the task at hand. His crutches were propped against the wall, just to the left of the bedside table. Using the table as support, he stood, surprised that the dizziness was passing. Steve reached for the crutches and made his way to the bathroom without incident, feeling quite pleased with himself.

"Hey, Kono," he heard Danny's voice as the man yelled down the stairs. "Your patient is AWOL. We leave you here for a few hours and you lose him… what kind of detective are you?"

Steve grinned and washed his hands before splashing some water on his face. He stared at the bruises which were as prominent today as they were in the hospital. The coloring had changed, but still just as noticeable. And once he started moving around, just as painful.

He opened the bathroom door and called to Danny who was now sitting on the end of the bed. "In here." Steve looked up when both Chin and Kono walked into the room.

"I didn't lose him," Kono defended herself. "Come on, Brah," she told Steve. "You're making me look bad."

He hobbled back to the bed and sat down on the side of it, breathing heavily after the short walk. "Seems to me," he began, "that the detective here didn't get all his facts before he acted."

"Yeah," Kono agreed, smacking Danny on the shoulder.

"How are you doing, Steve?" Chin asked while leaning against the bedroom doorway.

"Not so dizzy anymore," McGarrett told them. "Although," he grumbled, "walking to the bathroom shouldn't be such a chore."

"But you did it by yourself," Kono told him. "That should count for something."

Steve used the crutches and pulled himself up once more. "Let's take this downstairs, OK? I need some fresh air."

"Ah… no," Danny said. "Doc said you are grounded up here until tomorrow. She is supposed to call tonight and I, for one, don't intend to tell her you fell down the stairs."

"I'm not going to fall down—"

"I know you're not," Danny interrupted, standing in front of Steve, daring the taller man to move. "'Cause you're staying put. Capishe?

"Come on," Steve whined. "I've been cooped up all day. I need to go outside."

Kono walked to the balcony door and unlocked it. "Problem solved, Brah. You get comfortable out here and I'll bring up your dinner." She pushed open the door and crossed her arms, daring him to say no. "Chin, can you help me with our carryout?"

"Sure thing, Cuz. Danny, you got this?"

"Got it. Come on, McGarrett. No use giving me that look. Kono has spoken, so get your butt in gear."

~~~H50~~~

The team sat on the balcony quite a while after dinner was over. Kono was pleased to see that McGarrett apparently liked the chicken salad she had made just for him. The others had takeaway Chinese and even though he begged for some, she was adamant that he stick with the bland chicken, although she did share her fried rice with him.

After a lull in the conversation, Steve leaned back in his chaise lounge and asked, "So, tell me about this case you two are working on."

Danny glanced at Chin and hesitated before saying anything.

"Yes, I know the doc said 'no work'," Steve argued, "but I want to know what's going on. Who knows, maybe you will say something that will crack open my brain."

"Still no chinks in that hard head of yours?" Danny asked.

Steve shook his head and sighed. "Nothing, unless you count the fact that the bed feels 'right'. Like I'm comfortable in it. And that's certainly not much of a memory."

"It will come, Brah," Chin assured him.

"Yeah, keep telling me that."

To keep the mood from getting maudlin, Danny began explaining the case. "OK, here's the Reader's Digest version so follow along. Arms dealer Avery Makai… real bad dude. He's been dealing and running guns between Hawaii and Singapore. They moved in to the docks and we got him red handed in a stakeout a few weeks ago. Because he was considered a flight risk, he was held over in jail until the trial, which begins tomorrow."

"So, if we got him, what's the problem?" Steve asked.

Chin picked up the story. "While we got Makai, the guns had already been moved off the docks. We missed the shipment, and without it, our case could fall apart. We had a tip telling us the guns were in a warehouse, so we went to check it out. That was the warehouse that blew up… with us in it."

"A set up?" McGarrett deduced.

"Good observation, Sherlock," Danny deadpanned. "Crazy thing is that Forensics said if the bomb had been set closer to the front of the building, none of us would have survived. Said it looked like an amateur job."

"And Makai is a lot of things," Chin added. "But amateur isn't on the list. He has a record a mile long."

"So who sent us there?" Steve asked.

Kono replied, "I got a message on my phone, telling me to go there and find the guns. Funny thing… when HPD investigated, there were no guns in any of the crates."

"Did you trace the call?"

She shook her head. "Burner phone, paid for with cash. No trace."

"So, someone wanted us there," Danny finished. He pointed to himself, Steve and Chin. "The three of us are supposed to testify tomorrow, but we got you a pass, since (a) you are injured and (b) can't remember the explosion in the first place."

"What about Kono?" Steve asked, glancing over to her.

"I was being a techy that day and wasn't on the dock," she replied. "I was trying to find out where the guns were headed, but we finally decided they switched them to another boat before they even got to land. And we really could use those guns."

"What's next?" Steve asked.

"Well, Chin and I will testify tomorrow. Kono will stay here with you."

"Shouldn't I at least go to—"

"Ix-nay," Danny interrupted once again. "Doc made us swear you would stay at home."

"Come on, I can—"

"Sorry, Bossman. You and me are staying put tomorrow."

Chin added, "I'll stay the night and will go home and clean up in the morning after Kono gets here. Danny and I will come back here after court and fill you in on what's going on."

"I don't need anyone staying the night," Steve assured them.

"Really?" Danny asked. "Like no one needed to be at the hospital to keep you from playing Houdini? I think you'd better quit while you're ahead."

"You're stuck with us, Brah, whether you like it or not," Kono added with a grin.

"And even though you won't admit it, you look like you need to get back in there to bed," Danny said. "So, let's go McGarrett. It's beddy-bye time."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say that *I* was the head of this task force."

"In name only, Babe. We're a democracy. Now get your keester out of that chair before we haul you up," Danny warned, holding out his hand to help pull up his friend.

~~~H50~~~

Steve sighed and dropped down onto the side of the bed, unconsciously rubbing the ache in his leg. He slid the crutches onto the floor beside the bed and leaned back against the headboard, using his hands to help pull his leg up off the floor. He would never admit it, but during the time he spent outside tonight, his leg had stiffened, making walking most difficult. Just moving from the lanai to the bathroom to the bed had wiped him out. In addition, he was sure he could feel every single bruise and cut on his body, all mocking him, saying, "Feel me, feel me."

Chin walked into the room and caught the look of pain on McGarrett's face as he settled his leg onto a pillow. "Think you might have overdone it a bit today?"

_Busted. _

"Nah, I'm good. Just a cramp." The fact that he spoke through tightly clamped teeth assured that he was lying.

"Right," Chin 'agreed' with him. "Here's a bottle of water. Kono said you had some meds to take before bed. And…" he hesitated. "As much as I hate to do so, she told me to make sure you took the pain pill. So… take the pain pill."

"Are you three always such bullies?" Steve grumbled, opening the bottle of pills.

Chin shrugged and leaned against the footboard of the bed. "We take care of one another, if that's what you're asking."

"It's damned annoying," Steve stated.

"Yeah, I guess it can be."

McGarrett swallowed his pills with a swig of water from the bottle. "See… you can tell Kono I know how to follow instructions."

Chin's phone dinged the same time Steve quit talking and he pulled it from his pocket to read the message. Grinning, he read it aloud. "Make sure he takes both pills."

"Tell her I said 'get a life'. I really don't think I need a sitter 24 hours a day."

"Yeah, well, humor us. Just a couple days ago, we were pretty sure we had lost you."

Steve stuck another pillow behind his head and leaned back. "And yet, here I am," he muttered. "At least part of me is here." He motioned for Chin to sit down on the end of the bed. "So, I've talked to both Danny and Kono and got their stories, and now I need your perspective. Give me your take on how all this came about. Did I 'steal' you from HPD like Danny said I did him?"

"No, Brah. HPD and me had already parted ways over a slight misunderstanding with government money. You saved me from dying of boredom as a rent-a-cop on the pier next to the Missouri."

"Ouch."

"You can say that again. But I have to admit, at first I wasn't too keen on helping. But when I realized HPD wouldn't like the idea of me back on the job, I think that gave me the courage to prove I could do something better."

"And have we?" Steve quietly asked. "Done better?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we have. And some on the police force are beginning to come around. We have good allies there. Although there are still a few who really hate 5-0. The governor pretty much gave you carte blanche and some officers view that as a slap in their faces. That we can come in and get the bad guys by not following the rules."

"Sometimes you can't get the results you need if you follow all the rules," Steve replied, then yawned.

"And the governor knows that," Chin agreed. "So far, she's pretty impressed with our work." He stood and rubbed his hands together. "So… if you don't mind, I'm going to crash next door. The house is locked up and unless you need anything, I'll see you in the morning. But call if you need me."

Steve gave him a half-salute. "I will. Good night." He grinned at Chin. "And don't worry, because as everyone keeps telling me, I suppose I'll be fine."

~~~H50~~~


	12. Chapter 12

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 12**_

"Hey, Brah, everything OK?" Chin asked, poking his head inside the bedroom, checking on McGarrett.

Steve was hobbling out of the bathroom and looked up at the other man's voice. "Yeah, just had to move around. Muscles got pretty stiff overnight."

"How'd you sleep?"

Steve sat back down on the side of the bed and breathed a sigh of relief. "Not bad. Just had a hard time staying comfortable."

"I hear you. I'm not nearly as bruised as you and I woke up stiff and sore. Hey, I talked to Kono and she's on her way. Do you mind if I run home and shower before I meet Danny?"

"No, of course not," McGarrett assured him. "I'm good."

"You sure?

"Yeah, Chin. Can't do much anyway."

"OK, then, Kono will be here soon. And we'll be back after court today."

"Good luck. Let's hope everything goes well."

"Makai needs to be put away for a long time," Chin replied. "Let's hope we can do that." With a wave, the detective said, "Later."

McGarrett listened and heard the front door close, and then heard what sounded like a motorcycle drive away. He debated lying back down and waiting for Kono to arrive, but then decided he really wanted a shower. And more than that, he knew he _**needed **_a shower. He also knew the doctor would have his head on a platter if he got his leg wet, so that presented a problem. Making a decision, he grabbed the crutches and stood.

Only one way to remedy the situation. Go downstairs and get the plastic wrap.

He had a moment of indecision when he stood at the top of the steps. He never realized it was such a long way down. Holding both crutches in one hand and clutching the banister with the other, he began the trek down, good leg first, one step at a time. By the time he reached the small landing, he was regretting his rash decision, but he was over half way there.

Steve felt like he had run a marathon once he was downstairs. He leaned against the banister and caught his breath before beginning the trip to the kitchen. He grinned when he thought that a sponge bath didn't sound so bad right about then. But he would _**never**_ let anyone in on _**that**_ thought.

He hobbled into the kitchen and reached down, opening a drawer. And stopped, his hand on the handle. _How did I know what drawer the plastic wrap was in?_ He didn't even question it beforehand; he went directly to the right one. It wasn't much, but it made his morning quite a bit brighter. Picking up the long box, he then remembered that, years ago, his dad had put in a small bath on the first floor. A bath with a shower. And, with a smile of thanks to his dad, that was the direction he headed. A closet held towels and after only a few choice, salty words he learned in Annapolis, he managed to get plastic wrap around both his leg and arm to keep those injuries dry. The others, he didn't worry about and peeled off all the bandages and Band-Aids he could reach. He stood and stared at his reflection in the mirror, taking in the colorful hues on his face, shoulders and chest, knowing that the rest of him looked about the same. Like a very colorful jigsaw puzzle.

Setting the crutches against the wall, he tested his injured leg by putting some weight on it, quickly feeling the muscles scream at him. _OK, maybe I can live with crutches for a couple of days_. He turned on the water and entered the corner stall, sighing out loud as the hot water began to sluice over his shoulders and down his back, and he vowed not to exit until the water ran cold. _To hell with the standard, three minute Navy shower!_

~~~H50~~~

Kono unlocked the door and continued into the kitchen to set down her bags along with the two smoothies she had bought. She stopped and listened, hearing water. "Oh, he didn't," she muttered to herself, heading back around to the stairs. But after leaving the kitchen, the sound lessened and she realized Steve was in the downstairs bath. The water turned off and she raised her hand to knock on the door when it opened.

"Ah, hello," Kono said. It wasn't every day she saw her boss dressed only in a white towel, water dripping everywhere. She stared at the bruises on his chest, the purple and red hues bisected by black stitches.

"Hi," he replied, sounding much more chipper than yesterday. "Gotta open the door to get rid of some of the steam. That's one hot shower."

"And you couldn't have waited until someone was with you to make sure you didn't fall?" She crossed her arms over her chest and leveled him with a patented glare.

"Didn't fall. Don't be such a worry wart. Hey, guess what? I knew where to find the plastic wrap."

"O…K…," she replied, frowning at him and wondering if he had had a relapse of some sort.

"Think about it. Why should I know where that stuff is when my brain supposedly doesn't remember being here recently."

"Oh, yeah. Hey, Boss, that's good news." She smiled at him, sensing why he felt so much better. "Now," she motioned to him while staring _only_ at his face and said, "why don't you get dressed and I'll fix us some breakfast."

He stopped, a perplexed look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

Steve chewed on his bottom lip, and finally admitted, "Didn't think about clothes." He sighed, then added, "Guess I'll have to go back upstairs."

Kono laughed at the 'poor me' look on his face. "How about I go find something and bring it down to you?"

"Would you? Please? Because the thought of being stuck in that bedroom again today is really depressing." He glanced out the window at the sun shining on the water, yearning to be outside.

"OK, maybe we can have breakfast on the lanai. Just don't tell Dr. P. She might fire me as your nurse."

"I'd take up for you," he replied, grinning as she walked away. "Hey, can you bring back my razor, please. It's in the top right drawer in the bathroom."

She came back around the corner, a smile on her face. "Are you sure?"

He thought about it again, and grinned. "Yeah, positive."

"Good job," she said, happy for him. "Maybe today's the day. We'll have two things to celebrate tonight… putting away Makai and your memory coming back."

~~~ H50 ~~~

They were finishing breakfast outside when Kono's phone rang.

"Hey, Danny."

She listened a beat and then replied, "Yeah, Brah, everything's good." After listening a few more seconds she smiled and told him goodbye. "Danny says he's coming by before he goes to court and is bringing you a surprise."

"What is it?"

"If he told me, then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?"

"You didn't tell him I'm remembering things," Steve mentioned.

"No, I didn't." She slurped the last of her smoothie and grinned at him. "Because that is _**your**_ good news to tell. I'm going to clean up, so why don't you just sit here and enjoy the morning."

Steve leaned back in his chair. "I can do that. Thanks for breakfast."

~~~ H50 ~~~

Steve was still on the lanai when he heard voices in the house. He listened as they got louder, thankful they were coming outside so that he wouldn't have to get up.

Danny walked through the open doorway, holding the hand of a young girl. Steve glanced at her and then back to Danny, realizing this was his daughter from the picture he had seen.

"Steven, I would like to reintroduce you to Grace. This is my beautiful, wonderful daughter."

Grace had a look of trepidation on her face.

Steve was pretty sure his own face didn't look any different.

"Uh, hi," he began.

"Hi, Uncle Steve." She took in his bruises and added, "Danno said you got hurt. I hope you feel better."

"Yeah… I'm good." He looked to Danny, dressed in a suit and tie… and polished loafers. The man was rocking on his heels, looking rather nervous. "So… what's—"

"OK, it's like this," Danny interrupted him. "Gracie's school was cancelled today because of a gas leak and Rachel had made plans to go to the Big Island with Stan for the day. She called and asked if I wanted to take this little critter off her hands, and I, of course, said, 'no way, I'm a very busy man'."

Grace giggled and Danny pulled on one pigtail. "Daddy!"

"I said, 'of course, I would love to have her'," Danny amended, dropping his hands to rest on her shoulders. "But I knew I had to be in court. Since you and Kono are here today, I thought maybe I could drop her off for a couple of hours. Hope you don't mind. She doesn't eat much and she's potty trained," he added, grinning at the young girl.

"Stop it, Danno. That's embarrassing," she muttered.

"Yeah? I'm embarrassing you? Just wait until you try to bring a boy home and then see how I can embarrass you, so remember that." He turned back to Steve. "Hope it's all right."

Steve was still wary, but nodded his head. "No, it's good."

"I can be your nurse if you need anything, Uncle Steve," Grace told him. "I'll help you." Then she added, sadly, "And then maybe you will remember me."

"Yeah, maybe. Hope so." He sent a look of uncertainty in Danny's direction and Kono saw his panic.

"Hey, Grace, I'm going to make lunch today and could use your help. And maybe before then, we can let Steve rest here on the lanai and we can go down to the beach."

"Yeah, I brought my suit," she replied.

Kono and Grace gave each other high fives over their planned morning.

"Hey, sorry," Danny told Steve quietly. "I didn't really have a choice."

"No, it's OK," Steve assured him. "I just don't know what to talk to a kid about."

"Oh, don't worry, _that_ won't be a problem. In fact, you will be wishing _**she**_ didn't have so much to talk about."

"Anybody home?" Chin's voice echoed through the house.

Danny stuck his head back inside. "Out here, Chin. I'm ready." Danny turned to Grace and leaned down for a kiss. "Monkey, you be good, listen to Aunt Kono and don't bug Steve a lot, OK?"

"I won't," she promised. "See you later."

"Good luck, guys," Steve told them as they walked back through the house to the front door. He looked back at Grace, who was staring intently at him.

"Uh, what?"

"What do you need?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. "If I'm going to take care of you, I need to know what to do."

"Well," he began, glancing around, trying to think of something. Anything. "A bottle of water might be nice."

She grinned and saluted. "Aye, aye, Commander. One bottle of water coming right up."

Steve had to grin, in spite of it all. That was a cool kid.

~~~H50~~~

Danny eased the Camaro into a parking space near the front of the courthouse. As he opened the car door, his phone rang. Reaching for it, he saw Kono's face on the screen.

He hit the speaker and said, grinning, "Kono, what's up? Which one of them is in trouble?"

"Daddy." Grace's voice broke with a sob.

"Gracie, what's wrong. Where's Aunt Kono?"

"The bad men. They—they hurt Uncle Steve. Daddy, I'm scar—"

~~~H50~~~


	13. Chapter 13

_**wow... got some 'hate mail' after that last chapter! Not really, but you were quite vocal about the 'evil cliffhanger'. Sorry about that, but it was such a PERFECT place to stop. See if the following clears up matters a bit.**_

_**And thanks to everyone who has reviewed and commented on this story. That makes writing much more worthwhile. Cokie  
><strong>_

_**Ho'okahi, Chapter 13**_

"_The bad men. They—they hurt Uncle Steve. Daddy, I'm scar—"_

"Hello, Detective," a harsh voice said through the phone's tinny speaker. Danny and Chin could hear Grace's sob in the background.

"Who is this?" Danny yelled. "Do not hurt my daugh—"

"Now, now, Detective. You don't give the orders here. I suggest you listen. I know you just arrived at the courthouse and are standing outside your car. I have men there who will follow you into the courtroom, so if I were you, I really wouldn't attempt anything stupid or heroic."

"What do you want?" Chin asked.

"Oh, that's easy, Officer Kelly. I want the two of you to shut up and listen."

"We're listening," Danny told him tersely, scrubbing his hand across his face in agitation.

"First, there is a metal trash bin on the sidewalk going up to the courthouse. As you pass, I want both phones dropped inside. And I remind you, I have people watching. Secondly, you will enter the courtroom and sit quietly until you are called to the witness stand. At that time, I fully expect your undivided cooperation. You will recant the initial lies you told about my uncle and will state he was not present at the docks on the night in question."

"How the hell do you think we can do that?" Danny asked. "We were the arresting officers."

"Who will now apologize and tell the court that my uncle was an innocent bystander who was picked up that night. Actually, I don't care how you spin it to the judge as long as he is found not guilty. Do we have an understanding? Or do I have to remind you that we have three hostages here? I may just kill one. Starting with the one with pink ribbons in her hair."

"No! You listen to me. If you hurt her, I'll—"

"Careful, Detective. Watch the attitude. Our colleagues are watching you as we speak. One wrong move and they call me. And I have three people you will not see alive again."

"You can't—"

The phone went dead.

~~~H50~~~

Romeo Makai took great pleasure in hanging up the phone and grinned at his friend, Seth. "I think that went well, don't you?"

"Yeah, Brah, they don' want to risk losing their friends or fam'ly. They'll do what you ask."

Romeo looked at his hostages. "And you'd better do as I ask, too, you hear? No funny business."

Kono put her arm around Grace who was trying to stifle her sobs. "No funny business. I swear." She and Grace were sitting on the floor in front of the sofa. Steve was flat on his back, still struggling to get his breath after Makai hit him in the face with the butt of his gun. Kono's other hand was on Steve's shoulder, letting him know she was there.

"Why did you have to hit him?" she demanded to their two captors. "He was following your orders."

"And I wanted to make sure he knew who was boss," Seth Mayer told her, sneering at her question.

"Kono?"

She turned to look at her boss who was bleeding from a cut high on his left cheek.

"Don't." He gave a slight shake of his head, warning her not to try anything.

"Can you sit up?"

In answer, he got up on his elbows and then levered himself into a sitting position, holding his breath and leaning into the couch so as not to give his tormenters the pleasure of knowing he was in a world of pain. "Are you two OK?" he asked quietly, looking from Kono to Grace.

Kono nodded, glancing down at Grace. "Yeah," she whispered back, her face turned away from their captors.

"Aw, how sweet," Makai said with a laugh. He pointed his gun in their direction. "Get up on the couch where we can watch you."

They just sat on the floor and he screamed, "NOW. Move it."

"OK, hang on," Kono told him, rising and pulling Grace to her feet. "Here, you go, Sweetie." She nodded for the girl to sit down in the corner of the couch, and then reached down a hand to help pull Steve upward.

He shook his head and managed to get up on his own, moving from the floor to the couch, grunting in pain.

Kono remained standing. "I want to get something to clean up his face. He's bleeding."

"I don't care if he's got body parts missing. I told you to sit," Makai ordered once again. "And I don't want to say it again."

She slowly sat down on the opposite side of Steve, and looked at the welt of broken skin which was leaving a blood trail down his face and neck, soaking into the white cotton of the tee shirt she had helped him put on earlier that day.

Makai sat in the chair near the sofa while Seth removed the batteries from their confiscated cell phones before throwing the phones and the batteries out the open door to the lanai. Once that was finished, he wandered around the room, his gun constantly moving from one to the other of them in a nervous tic.

"So, I hope you're comfortable," Romeo said. "Because now, we wait. I sure as hell hope your friends come through for you. 'Cause, if not, they're gonna come home to a bloody mess."

Grace let out another frightened sob and Kono yelled, "Shut up!" to Makai. "You don't have to scare her like that." She held out her hand. "Grace, come over here."

The girl was just about to move when Seth barked out, "Sit! Nobody moves. Didn't we make ourselves clear?"

"And McGarrett," Makai added. "I can see the gears working in your head, so you had better stay put. I've heard all about you. Don't think you're gonna get the drop on us."

Steve winced. "Gears? You must have missed the memo. I'm seeing two of you, and unless you have an ugly twin, I'm guessing my vision is double. Again. The explosion rang my head so hard that I don't remember anything from the last two years. So, there are _**no**_ gears working. In fact, honestly, I just flat out don't care what happens to anyone."

"Uncle Steve!" Grace looked at him, her lower lip quivering.

"OK, kid, you can stop with all this 'uncle' crap. I don't know you or your annoying Haole Daddy, you hear?"

She dropped her eyes and looked at her hands, clasped tightly in her lap, one fat tear after another falling down her cheeks as she chewed on her lower lip to keep from sobbing once again.

"That's pretty rich," Seth said, laughing. "Guess our bomb worked after all if it took out the great Steve McGarrett."

"Oh, yeah," Romeo added. "In case you didn't know, that bomb was our handiwork."

"Yeah, thanks for that," Steve snarked back at him. "If that's the case, because of you, these people have been in my face since I woke up. All I wish is that everyone would just leave me the hell alone." He turned to look at Kono, adding, "I don't know who you people are and I don't really care. I left the hospital to get away, and damn, but if everyone didn't follow me here."

Grace jerked her head back up and shouted, "I don't want you to be my Uncle Steve anymore, because you aren't nice. I hate you!"

He glared back at her. "And you think that's gonna bother me? Looks like you don't know me, either."

Seth pointed his gun at them and laughed. He looked at Kono and said, "Girly, seems like your boss don't like you much. Maybe you and me can go find a bed and I'll make you feel wanted."

Steve snorted, and placed his arm around Kono's shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "This one? Don't waste your time. She's the Ice Queen. Trust me, I tried." He rubbed his hand over her shoulder. "But I think she might come around." He kept his hand on her shoulder, moving her hair out of the way, rubbing his thumb over her skin.

Kono tried to pull away from him and Steve only laughed, squeezing her shoulder in a tighter embrace. She stilled but gave him a look of death, leaving her unspoken thoughts at his actions quite apparent.

Unable to remove McGarrett's arm, she turned back to Makai. "You know, Danny and Chin can't lie on the witness stand. They were the arresting officers and their reports have already been filed in court and are part of the criminal record."

"I don't care if one of 'em is King Kamehameha himself, if they know what's good for them, they'd better get my uncle outta this charge!"

"So, whoever this uncle is, he has you doing all his dirty work?" Steve asked.

"Nah, man. We're gettin' him out on our own."

"Yeah," Seth added. "This way, he'll see that we're ready for the big time. See, it was us who sent you to the wrong warehouse."

Romeo laughed. "Yeah, that was rich. Uncle moved everything outta the one we blew up into a new one over on Pololei Street at the first of the year. Nothin's been in the old one for months."

"Well, you guys are real geniuses, aren't you?" Steve asked.

Seth turned and pointed his gun at McGarrett's chest. "Hey, who you callin' dumb? Huh? We got _**you, **_didn't we?"

"Oh, yeah. A sniveling kid, a weakling, wanna-be girl cop and a man with no memory, hobbling around on one leg. You guys are the best."

Seth opened his mouth to retort when Steve shouted, "NOW, Kono!"

~~~H50~~~


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14**_

_Seth opened his mouth to retort when Steve shouted, "NOW, Kono!"_

Using his good leg, Steve shoved the coffee table against Seth, hitting the shorter man in the knees. Kono flew over the table, grabbing Seth's gun hand as she barreled into him. At the same moment, Steve launched up and to the right, landing on Romeo. Steve, Makai and the chair flew backwards while Steve yelled, "Gracie, RUN!"

After a moment's hesitation at the brawling going on in front of her, she did as she was told and ran toward the kitchen.

The fighting was over rather quickly. Not only were these guys dumb as rocks, but they also had no clue how to defend themselves. Kono managed to land on Seth with her knee in his groin and his left hand quickly moved downward to protect himself. The pain below his belt took a lot of the fight out of him before her first blow landed on his jaw. She held tight to his gun arm with her left hand and used her right arm to press against his throat, using all her strength to squeeze his air supply. When his grip on the gun lessened, she grabbed it, placing the barrel against his forehead.

"Do. Not. Move," She warned him, forcefully pushing the weapon into his skin.

On the opposite side of the room, Steve and Romeo were fighting for dominance. While Steve was larger and would normally be the stronger of the two, Romeo was younger and healthy, even though he was inexperienced. Makai managed to roll so that McGarrett was beneath him and he used his knee to press into Steve's injured leg, eliciting a ragged cry of pain from the other man. But the pain egged McGarrett on, giving him focus to maim his adversary. Steve rolled over, landing on Makai, with one hand holding the man's wrist. He managed to use his other arm in an uppercut, driving his elbow beneath Romeo's chin, snapping his head backward against the floor. A second fist into the man's face, and the gun hand went slack as Romeo's eyes rolled back in his head.

Steve rolled away from the younger man, taking the weapon in the process. Breathing heavily, he scooted further out of the way in case Makai tried to lash out at him. Instead, he found that the man was out cold. Taking in a ragged breath, Steve panted, "Kono?" never taking his eyes off their captor.

She was breathing equally as hard. "I'm good, Boss. You?"

"Yeah." He ran his hand over his mouth, struggling to get his breathing and pain level under control. He finally looked at her, seeing Seth, now on his stomach, hands laced behind his head, Kono seated on the man's hips with the gun pushed into the base of his neck.

"Get her off me," Seth pleaded.

"Shut up," Kono and Steve said at the same time.

Steve looked around and realized Grace wasn't in the room. "Grace?" he yelled in a panic, trying to get his legs beneath him to get up. He made it to his knees before the girl looked around the doorway from the dining room, holding his house phone in her hand.

McGarrett remained on his knees, motioning for the phone with his fingers. "Good girl. Give me the phone," he ordered.

She glared at him, before looking at Kono, speaking to her instead. "I already called 911 like Daddy taught me. They're coming." She moved away from Steve and tried to get around him to get closer to Kono, but he reached out his arm and grabbed her wrist.

"That was very smart, Grace," he said. "Now, please come here," he asked, trying to tug her closer while she tried to pull away from him. "Look at me, Grace."

She was her father's stubborn daughter and refused to make eye contact.

"Gracie, please look at me," Steve said in a quieter tone. While she didn't look at him, the flight instinct went out of her and she relaxed. He let go of her arm and tilted her chin up with his finger. "I know you're mad and I don't blame you. I said some pretty mean things to you and Kono, but I was only pretending, trying to get these guys to make a mistake. I didn't mean any of that stuff I said. And, see, it worked. We got them. And now, with your help, the police are on the way. I'm really proud of you."

She glared at him and he knew his apology was not accepted. He glanced back to Makai to ensure the man hadn't moved, before continuing to talk with Grace.

"I do have some pretty good news," he told her. "At least it's good for me."

She continued to glare at him for several seconds before curiosity got the best of her. "What?" she finally asked.

"I remember you. Maybe not everything, but I remember you being here at my house. And I remember building sandcastles on the beach, even though my castle was a lot better than yours."

"It was not!" she retorted. "My castle had a moat-" She saw his grin and finally she hugged his neck. "You better not pretend to be mean ever again," she told him. "Because you're scary."

"I'm sorry, Gracie. Don't tell Danno on me, OK?" he said in her ear.

She pulled back and looked him in the eye. "I'll think about it," she decided. "But you better be nice!"

Steve held her at arms' length and asked, "Is that a threat, Ms. Williams?"

She giggled. "Maybe."

They heard the sirens coming down the street and he let her go, saying, "We'll have to negotiate later. Think you can bring my crutches?"

She picked them up and brought them to him. With another check that Makai was still unconscious, he half crawled to the fallen chair and used it to help maneuver himself to his feet. She handed him the crutches and he nodded his thanks.

"One more thing," he asked her, trying once again to get his breath. "Can you open the front door and show the police to come this way?"

"Yep." No longer fearful, she did as he asked, her hero worship once again firmly established.

~~~H50~~~

The two felons were taken into custody as Steve and Kono quickly gave their statements to HPD. One officer came in from the backyard carrying their phones and batteries. While giving details to the officers, Steve reached for the phones and put the pieces back together, checking to see if they worked.

"We've got this covered, Commander," Duke Lukela assured McGarrett. "How do you want to handle getting word to Danny and Chin in the courthouse?"

Steve watched as Seth and Romeo were hauled up and taken out of the living room while Kono talked to Grace, making sure she wasn't physically injured. Steve knew she wouldn't forget this anytime soon. He turned back to Duke. "I've got an idea," Steve told him, reaching for the phone they had taken from Makai, "but we need to get to the courthouse." He pointed to his crutches and asked, "Think we could hitch a ride?"

"Absolutely. Let's go."

"And I need something else," Steve told him. "Can you request a warrant and then dispatch a couple of units to Pololei Street and search for Makai's warehouses? We have it on good authority that the weapons we've been searching for are stored there."

"On it." Duke pulled out his phone and began making the necessary arrangements.

"Kono, we need to get to the courthouse," Steve told her. "HPD can finish up here."

"Right, Boss. But first, you might want to clean up a bit." She pointed to the side of his face. "You've still got blood all over."

"No time," he replied, reaching up and touching the broken skin on his cheek. "We need to roll."

"Here." Grace came from the kitchen with several wet paper towels. "I got this to clean you up."

"Thanks, Grace." He took the wet towels from her and swiped at his neck. "Now…" He realized they needed someone to watch the girl. "Kono, we can't take her into the courtroom. Danny would kill us."

Grace walked out the open front door, then turned around and stared at them, hands on her hips. "You're not leaving me here, so quit wasting time and come on."

Steve looked at Kono. "Does that remind you of anyone?"

Kono smiled and followed him out the door. "From that remark, I take it you remember us now?"

"Probably not everything," he told her, "but enough to remember who you are." He grinned at her. "It kind of came back when you launched yourself over the coffee table to pound Seth into my living room floor."

Duke followed them outside. "How about if I drive? Lights and sirens all the way?"

"That's good," Steve replied. "Gracie, have you ever ridden in the back of a police car?"

"Nope."

Duke opened the door. "Then climb on in, Miss Williams."

She got into the car and turned to them. "Uncle Steve, you need to sit here with me so you can stretch out your leg. Here, I'll help you."

Steve tossed the crutches on the back floorboard and did as she requested while Kono climbed in front. Steve angled himself on the seat and stretched out his leg, allowing Grace to place his lower leg in her lap. With doors slamming, Duke hit the siren and they sped out of the drive, followed by two officers in another car behind them.

Once on the road, Kono turned around and glanced at Grace. "Hey, Grace. You OK?" she asked, noticing the young girl appeared lost in thought.

Grace nodded and then said, "Auntie Kono, how did you know Uncle Steve was pretending when he was saying all those mean things?"

"Well, at first, I wasn't really sure what he was doing, but when he grabbed my shoulder and put his arm around me, he told me to wait for his move."

"Huh?" Grace asked, looking from Kono to Steve. "But you didn't say anything."

McGarrett grinned and reached for her hand. "Sure I did. Here, let me show you. I had my hand on Kono's shoulder and I started writing notes to her, like this. Think about the letters I'm going to write and tell me what I'm saying." He began etching letters on her hand, watching her reaction to see if she understood.

When he was finished, she giggled. "You wrote, 'Danno is silly'."

"See. You _**can**_ communicate without talking."

She looked up at him. "I'm telling Danno."

"Well, Danno _**is**_ silly," he said with a grin. "This is payback for saying me saying mean things to you, isn't it?"

She bobbed her head up and down, pigtails flying. "Uh huh. And you deserve it!"

Duke smiled at the two of them in the rearview mirror. "OK, almost there, Steve. I'll get you as close as I can to the doors so you don't have to walk far on that leg." He slowed and cut the siren as they came near the courthouse. Not seeing any open parking, he pulled up onto the sidewalk. "How's this for service?" he asked with a grin.

"I think that's something I would do," Steve replied, smiling his thanks while scooting off the seat after Kono opened the door. As the other two officers came toward them, Steve motioned for them to come closer. "OK, listen up. I hope this can be over quickly and without incident. But once we get to the courtroom, block the doors. No one gets out. I plan on flushing the accomplices out into the open." He leaned forward to get Grace's attention. "Grace, I want you to stay with Kono or me the whole time. We'll get you back to Danno as soon as we can. Understand?"

She nodded, her eyes wide as Kono reached for her hand.

"Here we go, Grace."

Steve and Duke led the way, slowing only to allow Steve and his crutches time to make it up the stone steps to the courthouse. Once inside, the officers took hold of the double doors into Courtroom A, ready to open them for their unexpected entrance.

~~~H50~~~

**_Couple of Notes:_**

**_First, thanks to everyone who is still reading and reviewing. That is so kind of you. _**

**_Secondly, the way Steve communicated with Kono in this chapter really does work, even though there are doubters in your midst yes, you know who you are!. _ _ My sister and I used that fool-proof method to 'talk' in front of our parents all the time… most often during church, or plotting one scheme after another to plan our joint attack on the parental units. _**

_**On Thursday, you will have Chapter 15 that winds down the story. Next Monday there is a short epilogue that will follow to tie up some loose ends. Again, Mahalo to everyone.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Chapter 15**_

"The State calls Detective Chin Ho Kelly to the stand," the bailiff spoke.

Chin and Danny exchanged glances and Danny frowned, neither of them sure how to play the hand they were dealt. As Chin stood, Danny rubbed his temples, fighting back the headache that had erupted right after he received the phone call. All he could think of was pigtails tied in pink ribbons… and the little girl who was wearing them.

Chin squared his shoulders and walked forward to the witness stand where he was sworn in. Once he was seated, the court clerk said, "Please state your name and position for the court."

"Chin Ho Kelly. I'm a detective with the governor's special task force."

Once the clerk moved away, the DA approached the witness stand. "Detective Kelly, on the night in question, March 2 of this year, could you please walk us through the actions of your task force?"

"Of course. We were on the docks at Pupukea after learning that a boat full of weapons was coming in that evening. Rumor had it that the shipment was Avery Makai's. We had been watching Makai for weeks, waiting for a break in the case of arms dealing."

"And this Mr. Makai," the DA spoke again. "Did you apprehend him that night?"

"Well…" Chin swallowed, still not sure what he was going to say.

The double doors at the back of the courtroom opened and Chin glanced up to see Steve, Kono and Grace quietly enter followed by Duke and a couple other officers. He could see what looked to be fresh blood stains on McGarrett's white tee shirt, but when he locked eyes with Steve and saw his nod, Chin knew all was well.

Chin cleared his throat and glanced at Danny, giving him a slight nod. "Yes, Sir, we did apprehend Mr. Makai."

Danny's heart began beating double time, but he had seen Chin's head motion and knew that things must be under control. It took all his willpower _**not**_ to turn around, but he couldn't give anything away to the men seated several rows behind him. They had made the two young guys before they had even entered the courtroom, but there was no opportunity to deal with them prior to court. Besides, they didn't know if those two were the _only_ ones Makai had watching.

"And the person you apprehended, Detective Kelly. Can you identify him here in this courtroom?"

Chin nodded and pointed to Avery Makai. "Yes, he is sitting right there."

Thirty seconds later, a cell phone began to beep loudly and Judge Kainoa hammered his gavel. "Bailiff, did you or did you not instruct everyone to turn off their phones prior to the beginning of court?"

"I did, Your Honor."

"Then whose phone is ringing?"

Steve stepped forward, out into the aisle. "That would be this phone, Your Honor, and with your permission, I can explain."

Danny turned around in his chair, along with the rest of the courtroom, and stared at his worse-for-wear looking partner standing by the doors. However, Danny only glanced at him long enough to see that Steve was OK before his eyes began scanning the room, anxiously looking for Grace. Seconds later, he found her and relief flooded through his body as he saw Grace and Kono, standing in the back of the room, flanked by HPD.

The judge watched as Steve repositioned his crutches before attempting to walk. He took in the cut on his face and what appeared to be fresh blood on the tee shirt. He also saw the look of determination in the man's eyes. "And you are?"

"Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. Head of the governor's task force."

"Commander, it was my understanding that you were too incapacitated to appear in court today."

Steve indicated his crutches and replied, "Well, Your Honor, we ran into a slight problem." He motioned for Grace to come with him and she quickly moved to his side as he began to walk. "And it was imperative that we come down here."

"Someone get this man a chair," the judge growled.

Steve stopped next to the row where Danny was seated and reached for Grace's hand, moving her to the other side of the aisle so he could pass her to her father. "Here you go, Danny," he whispered, smiling at his partner. "Thought you might need this."

Danny welcomed her with open arms and mouthed the words, "Thank you," while giving her a hug.

The DA opened the wooden gate from the visitor's gallery when Steve moved down the aisle and then held out a chair at the table he had been assigned to.

Once McGarrett was seated, Judge Kainoa requested, "Now, Commander, I would appreciate an explanation why you interrupted these court proceedings."

"Yes, Sir." Steve leaned forward, his hands in front of him on the desk still holding the phone. "Earlier this morning, I was held at gunpoint in my house, along with Officer Kono Kalakaua and Grace Williams, my partner's daughter."

Murmuring began in the courtroom and the judge banged his gavel. "Order! Continue, Commander. I assume everyone is unharmed?" He then pointed toward Steve's face, and amended the statement, "Or relatively unharmed?"

"Yes, Your Honor, we're fine. Officer Kalakaua and I managed to overcome the assailants. But earlier, they had made their demands known to Detectives Williams and Kelly." He pointed to Chin who was still seated on the witness stand.

The judge turned to Chin. "Is this true, Detective?"

Chin nodded, and explained to the judge and the court, "Before we reached the courthouse, Detective Williams and I received a phone call instructing us that we were expected to lie on the witness stand by stating that Makai was picked up unintentionally on the night in question. If we didn't get him out of the charges, we were told our family would be killed. We were also told that we were being watched, were instructed to throw away our cell phones and come directly to the courtroom."

Once again, the room began to roar with voices and the judge requested 'order' once again. Makai shouted out, "I don't know what you're talking about. This is nothing but lies."

"Counselor," the judge addressed the attorney. "I would advise that your client remain silent."

"If I could continue, Your Honor," Steve asked and received a nod. He held up the cell phone. "The two men who held us had contact with others here in the court room. When this phone beeped, it was a text from inside this room, supposedly telling our assailants what Chin had said on the stand." He pushed a button on the phone. "The message reads," he smiled and glanced at the judge before looking back to the phone. He had to squint to read the words; his eyesight still somewhat blurred. "And I quote, 'Shit, Romeo. Kelly isn't cooperating'."

People in the court room began to chuckle and were turning to look at everyone else, wondering who sent the text. Chin motioned for the judge once again. "Sir, Detective Williams and I believe we can identify the two men who were watching us." He pointed to Danny. "Care to do the honors, Danny?"

Williams stood and at the judge's nod, said, "With pleasure." He motioned for Grace to stay put and then walked back to the other side of the court room on the next-to-last row. "You two. Give me your phones."

"Hey, we didn't do anything," one began.

"Officers," the judge stated, nodding for them to come forward. "Please assist these gentlemen."

Danny forcibly took the cell phone from the man's hand and toggled it to the message screen while the two in question were being handcuffed. Finding what he wanted, he walked toward the judge's bench, picking up the phone Steve was holding and taking both phones to the court clerk who handed them to Kainoa.

Reading the text, Judge Kainoa set down the two phones and peered over his glasses. "Well, this certainly changes the proceedings of this court today."

Makai jumped up. "Judge, you can't blame any of this on me. I don't know nothing about any of this shit."

"Counselor!"

The attorney pulled on his client's arm, urging him to sit down.

"No! Come on, Man. I didn't know these morons were going to kidnap a cop! This was all my idiot nephew and his friends' idea. Worthless pieces of -"

"Order"! And I will not repeat it again," the judge reiterated. "As I was going to say, what has transpired this morning changes this hearing. Court is postponed until further notice so that we can sort through the new information. Guard, please return Mr. Makai to his holding cell. And officers, book those two men. Dismissed." He banged the gavel once again, quite loudly.

"All rise."

~~~H50~~~

Danny returned to his seat after delivering the phones. When the gavel banged, Grace launched herself around his waist. "Danno, we caught the bad men. Me and Uncle Steve and Aunt Kono."

He cringed when she squeezed his still-healing ribs but wrapped his arms tightly around her as well. "I can see that, Monkey. Are you OK?"

"Uh huh. And we rode down here in a police car with the sirens and lights flashing. I rode in the back with Uncle Steve. And his leg was hurting, so I held it in my lap."

"Wow. You've had a pretty exciting morning. I'm glad you are all right."

"Oh, I'm fine," she told him. "Only Uncle Steve got hurt again. The bad man hit him in the face."

"I could see that. I think we better check on him, right?"

Chin left the witness stand and grinned at McGarrett who was accepting the DA's thanks. When the DA moved away, he clapped Steve on the shoulder. "Glad to see you, Brah. Had us worried there for a while."

"Well, remember when you were going over the case and said that the warehouse bomb 'appeared to be the work of amateurs'?"

"Yeah, sure."

"We were introduced to them this morning. And trust me, they insult the word 'amateur'." The two began moving down the aisle, stopping next to Danny and Grace. Kono reached the group at the same time.

"What's so funny?" Kono asked, listening to Steve and Chin's laughter.

"Steve said these guys were lower than amateurs."

"You got it, Cuz. They were pretty sad. Makai was a pretty smart guy, but I think he used up the gene pool. That nephew of his is an embarrassment to men everywhere."

They shared another laugh while exiting the courthouse, stopping to stand in the bright sun.

"Steve," Duke moved up the steps to meet them. "Good news. I just got word that patrol units found the weapons in one of the warehouses on Pololei."

"Great! Then we got him," Steve said.

"Hey!" Danny exclaimed. "You sound like you know what's going on with the case. How's the head?"

"He remembers me, Danno," Grace said, grinning. "And you and Uncle Chin, too."

Danny looked at his partner. "Guess I have to say 'I told you so'. And it's good to have you back."

"Good to be back," Steve agreed.

"And thank you for taking care of my daughter," Danny told him, clasping the taller man's arm.

Steve looked down at Danny and smiled. "A wise man once told me that partners take care of each other. Right Danno?"

Danny just rolled his eyes, thankful his partner remembered that much.

~~~H50~~~

Dr. Palakiko had been at work since 4:30 that morning and had just managed to sit down for the first time. She popped the top on her can of Diet Coke and reached for the bag of popcorn she had just taken from the microwave. "Lunch of champions," she mumbled to herself, popping some of the hot kernels into her mouth. She propped her feet up on another chair and got comfortable, reaching for the remote.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, she realized that Family Feud was still on and that was always good for a laugh or two. To this day, her favorite question was "Name something you put on top of a salad," to which the male contestant quickly replied, "Cool Whip." She flipped through the channels for the correct one, surprised to see "Breaking News" running across the bottom of the screen.

She set the remote on the table and picked up her drink. News trumped Feud, so there was no Feud for her today. She wasn't paying attention until the words "governor's task force" were mentioned. Quickly grabbing the remote again, she turned up the sound, just in time to see the four members of the task force in question exit the courthouse. Breaking News. _**Live**_ Report…

"You little sneak!" she muttered. "You are so busted!

~~~H50~~~

They started down the steps, Kono, Danny and Grace walking slowly to keep pace with Steve who was really beginning to appear wiped out. Chin had gone ahead, hoping that there had been no trash pick-up since the time he and Danny had tossed their phones. Finding them, he brushed them off, thankful no one had thrown food in the can. He held them up for Danny to see.

Grace walked next to Steve, watching him carefully. "When we get back to the car, you can put your leg in my lap again if you want to."

"Thank you," he replied. "You really are a good nurse, Grace."

Danny reached the bottom of the steps and reached for his cell phone from Chin, surprised when it began to ring. He cringed when he saw who the call was from, quickly saying, "Hey, quiet!" He then accepted the call.

"Dr. P, good afternoon."

"Hi, Danny, I'm just checking in. Wondered how our patient was feeling today."

"Steve's great, Doc. Right now, I think he's taking a nap out on the lanai, but he's really doing good."

"Oh, for goodness sake, get the man to the car so he can sit down before he falls flat on his face. Do you not realize the courthouse is crawling with news cameras?"

"Uh—"

"On second thought, let me talk to him."

"Who? Steve?"

"Yes, Steve. Who do you think? Put him on now."

Danny made a face and handed the phone to his partner. "We're toast."

"Why?"

"Apparently, Steven, we are on TV. Wave to Dr. P."

"Crap," he whispered, raising the phone to his ear and then smiling. "Hey, Doc, guess what? I remember things now."

"That's good. Then remember how to get yourself home because I will meet you there in thirty minutes."

"But—" The smile faded.

"Commander, are you really going to give me a 'but'?"

"Well, we promised Grace we would stop for pizza."

She huffed. "OK, get it to go and make mine pepperoni. With mushrooms. And a large Diet Coke with lots of ice. And don't keep me waiting!"

~~~H50~~~

_**Once again, thanks to everyone who has continued to read this story. I appreciate each and everyone of you. One more chapter on Monday!**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Well, friends here is the epilogue. I cannot thank you enough for all the kind reviews and pep talks I have received about this story. Your kind words mean more than you can know. And once again, I have to thank my wonderful beta readers for being so patient with numerous (and I DO mean numerous) rewrites. I have four betas who I feel have become wonderful friends and who I could not... and would not... do this without. Sockie1000, Rogue Tomato, Sym64 and Sherry57 have read and re-read, changed, tweaked, read again and given their blessings for this story. They are the best! And the most patient. :)**_

_**So... until the next time... I hope you enjoy the ending. Mahalo.**_

_**Cokie**_

_**~~~H50~~~**_

_**Chapter 16 Epilogue**_

Steve took off his suit jacket and laid it across his arm as he soaked in the sun's afternoon rays. It had rained that morning while they had been in court and now steam was rising off the asphalt, the grass was still damp and droplets of water was evaporating from the leaves.

He breathed in, the salt in the air tingling his nose. He exhaled with a sigh of relief.

The case was over. The trial was finished and this one could be filed away.

On Tuesday, they all had testified in the trial of Avery Makai. He, along with several members of his gang, received anywhere from 20 to 40 years in prison; Makai receiving the maximum. Today, the team had reconvened in court to give testimony against Avery's nephew, Romeo, his friend, Seth Meyers and their two accomplices. Each of the four men received 15 years, with possibility of parole. Personally, Steve would have tacked on another 20 for stupidity, but the judge was more lenient than he was.

But the judge hadn't been the recipient of a broken cheekbone.

The judge also wasn't on the receiving end of Dr. Palakiko's rather scathing tirade about disregarding her orders. Although after plying her with plenty of pizza and Diet Coke, she had become more understanding.

McGarrett flexed his leg which still ached unmercifully, although he would emphatically deny that fact if anyone asked. He had seen Dr. Palakiko again yesterday and she had grudgingly given him the OK to drive. _**He**_ knew that _**she**_ knew he would drive anyway, so she decided to sign off on it. That was just one more step on his road to independence. She had also given the OK for him to return to work next Monday. Desk duty only for a week, or until she deemed otherwise, but at least that would be better than staying home. There's only so much of sitting on the lanai that even he could take.

After he left the hospital, it was a week before his team allowed him to spend the night alone in his own house. Finally he managed to convince them he was a big boy who could take care of himself. But even that wasn't easy.

The first night he was alone, Danny had actually called at 2200 to make sure he had taken his meds and ask if he was in bed. Steve had hung up the phone without saying a word.

Danny got the message the following morning when Steve called him at 0600. Just to make sure he was doing OK.

Danny had called him names that Steve had previously only heard on a ship filled with salty sailors. But Steve must have gotten his point across because that night, the phone was silent.

Each of his team members had volunteered to pick Steve up this morning to drive him to court, but he insisted that he was driving himself. None of them were quite ready to let go of their Mother Hen roles. But, once again, he assured them he was quite capable to drive across town by himself.

Besides there was some place he needed to be this afternoon.

Right here.

It wasn't comfortable.

But it was necessary.

During that first week at home, once his headache finally began to abate and the dizziness subsided, his memory continued to return. And with his memories came an overwhelming sadness.

He stared at the simple granite marker with the words "John McGarrett" engraved on it. And Steve knew that this visit was long overdue.

He looked up at the blue sky, unsure what to say. Or whether to even say anything. It wasn't like his dad could reply. He thought back to the telephone call on that last fateful day. Their final conversation. It had been forced; unreal. Frantic, and over much too soon.

And Steve was filled with so much regret.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I… I didn't have a clue what we were up against. Never knew Victor was that powerful. And… I know it is too late, but I got him. Too late for a lot of things, but at least he's taken care of.

"If you don't already know, you'll probably be mad that I'm doing the one thing you didn't want for me." Steve grinned. "I'm a cop. Well, sort of; I'm head of a task force. They gave me a cool badge anyway. I never intended to leave the SEALs and do this, but I had to find out what happened to you… that day." After pausing, he grinned and continued, the words suddenly coming easier. "I had seen Chin and he said HPD had put some Haole on your case, and I knew that wasn't gonna fly. So I made sure the case was mine. But I ended up working with that Haole anyway."

He paused and glanced upward once again, forming his words.

"You would like him. Danny, that is. He would talk the ears right off your head, but, when it counts, I wouldn't want anyone else at my back. I got Chin, too. When I was a kid, I remember you saying how much promise he had and that he was a great partner. And you were right. He's so smart… and calm. Sometimes he has to play referee between Danny and me, but at least we can get him to laugh. Chin brought us his cousin, Kono, and I never thought I'd willingly choose a young woman as a team member, but damn, that girl can take up for herself.

"We take care of each other. Mary's back on the mainland, so they are my family. At least the family I have here.

"I… uh," he paused, blinking back the moisture in his eyes. "I miss you," he whispered. "I'm sorry we never really got to know each other as adults. That's… well, that's mostly my fault, I guess. But one thing I have realized in the last couple of weeks is that we are a lot alike. Both stubborn. Danny calls it 'pig-headed'. Maybe he's right, but I'd like to think it's what mom always called us – her 'obstinate McGarrett men'.

"Hey, I almost forgot." He grinned again. "I got the Marquis to run. For a few miles anyway. Had to have it towed back to the house, but it was a start. I'm still working on it and I'm not going to give up."

He paused once again and his voice got quieter. "I understand now. About why you sent us away. And while I don't like it," he glanced away and swallowed down the hurt, "and I don't agree with it, I understand. And because of that act, you made me who I am today, so I guess I need to thank you."

He stood there quietly, his thoughts speaking volumes. Finally he decided he had said all he could.

Almost.

Quietly, he added, "Love you, Dad."

After a few more minutes, he turned to walk back to the truck. He saw a figure heading in his direction, so he stopped and waited, looking back at the stone. "OK, Dad, he's here. Wait 'til you get a load of the accent. Did I mention he's from Jersey?"

Danny approached slowly until Steve looked at him and offered a half smile. "How'd you find me?"

"Excuse me?" Danny pointed both thumbs toward his own chest. "Good detective; small island." He hooked both hands in his pants pockets and rocked on his heels. "Actually I just had a hunch." He looked closely at Steve. "You OK?"

Steve looked him in the eye. "Yeah, actually, I think I am."

"That's good. Listen, ah, we had a discussion after you took off and we decided to have a cookout. Tonight. At your house."

Steve shrugged his acceptance. "We'll have to get food."

"Taken care of," Danny assured him. "Kono and Chin went to the grocery store and are headed to your house as we speak."

"What's the occasion?"

"Well, if we _**need**_ an occasion, how about the fact that the case is over and Makai is behind bars? That's a pretty good reason to celebrate."

"True," Steve agreed.

"And," Danny added, emphasizing by waving his hand in Steve's direction, "we never celebrated the fact that you are once again in your right mind."

"Danny, I was never _**not**_ in my right mind."

"Hey! You didn't know your partner. Or, I might add, his darling little daughter, so I think that qualifies as not being in your right mind."

"OK, fine. Not in my mind. Anything else?"

"Well, we thought… if you're comfortable with it, that is, that you might like to tell us about your dad. Maybe you and Chin could share some stories and we would be able to know him a little better."

Steve looked back down at the stone. "You know, I think I might like that. On one condition."

"What's that?" Danny asked as he turned to walk back to the cars, Steve falling into step beside him, trying not to noticeably limp on the grassy surface.

"I'm giving you fair warning, that if you try to take a beer out of my hand, I will break your fingers. I don't care if you think I shouldn't drink with whatever pills that quack continues to make me take. Understood? I need a Longboard."

Danny carefully pondered the request. "I'll be lenient tonight… to a certain extent. One beer… on the house."

"We'll see," Steve agreed. "Which," he continued, reaching up and rubbing his forehead. "That brings up another subject."

"And what might that be?"

They had reached Steve's truck and he leaned against the back bumper, taking pressure off his leg. "Somewhere in the last few weeks, I distinctly remember you telling me that Five-0 is a democracy."

"Yes. And?"

"Well, first, I seem to recall that I have a title that proves otherwise. But I also distinctly remember another conversation where I said we were a benign dictatorship. Ring any bells?"

Danny scratched his cheek, his face screwed up in contemplation. Finally shaking his head, he looked sadly at Steve. "Um, sorry, but I don't recall that. But maybe you should mention delusions to Dr. P. I'm sure she could help you. I mean, there's got to be some kind of pill for it."

Steve rolled his eyes and slapped his partner on the arm. "Two Longboards tonight and I'll drop it."

Danny grinned, and after consideration, nodded. "Deal."

Steve moved to the cab and opened the door, turning to his partner once again. "Then let's go; I'm actually hungry. What's Chin grilling?"

"I'm having brats and burgers. If I know you, you'll probably want grilled coconut tree bark with a side of steamed tofu."

"Nah, what with having to be in court this week, I haven't had time to harvest the tree bark."

"In that case, there may be a salmon with your name on it."

Steve smiled at his partner and placed his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Thanks, Danny."

"You're welcome, Steven. That's what partners are for."

"No," Steve replied. "That's what friends are for."

_**~~~H50~~~**_

**_Finis: 4/17/12_**


End file.
